Polar Opposites
by ilovemedia18
Summary: A new member is added to the Enterprise and she brings not only her talent at her job but the talents of her race as well, at least half of her race. She finds friends in the crew and a brother in McCoy, but what she finds in Spock is something neither was prepared for. They will all be tested when evil strikes and when one is willing to sacrifice everything to save ones friends.
1. The beginnings of a family

It wasn't long before I was beamed aboard the ship. I was very excited. It wasn't every day that I got to go on adventures. I wandered around the ship, gazing in awe at all that I saw. It was simply amazing. There was no other way to describe it.

"Can I help you Miss?" I turned around to see a man, older and his hair was beginning to grey. It was then that I noticed his rank and I smiled,

"Admiral Pike." He gave me a warm smile,

"Amaya. It's great to see you again. You look just like your mother. And you have your her eyes and I'm sure you have his stubbornness. Your mother was a dear friend of mine." I gave him a small smile,

"I know. She talked about you often. Usually about all the trouble you two got in." He laughed,

"Oh yeah, we caused a lot of mayhem back then."

"She said that you reminded her of my father." He gave me a sad smile,

"Your father was a good friend of mine as well."

"She said you never stopped searching." He shook his head,

"No, I just couldn't give up on him. He was like a brother. I still check, every now and then."

"I wish I had your kind of hope Admiral. It's been so long since I've seen him. I remember you, you know. At his funeral. You were the kind man who gave me his medal, I still have it. Brought it with me even. And I remember you from mother's funeral as well. You also stopped by the house often." He gave me a smile before pulling me to him and wrapping me in his arms. I held onto him tightly feeling the emotions bubble up in me. He did remind me of my father and my mother.

"Oh kid, I'm so sorry for all of this. This was something you never should have had to go through." I could here the emotion in his voice and knew he was hurting as well,

"I know. But you know what. I found my parents again, in you. You remind me of them so much. And that's a comforting thought." He pulled back and gave me a smile and could see he was fighting off the tears better than I was,

"I'll always be here if you need me kid. I'm just a call away. Anything you need you call, you hear me?" I nodded, "I'll check up on you from time to time."

"Sounds good." Just then someone came down the corridor,

"Ah, Dr. McCoy, I'd like you to meet your newest engineer. Amaya O'Callaghan. She'll be Scotty's assistant. Amaya, this is Leonard McCoy, Chief Medical Officer on this ship. I think you two will get along well." We nodded at each other, "McCoy can you show her to her quarters and then show her to engineering?"

"Yes sir." Pike nodded at him before turning to me again,

"See you later kid."

"See ya." McCoy led me down the corridor to the turbo lift. He didn't really say any thing except the occasional mutter under his breath about being a doctor not a bell boy. I chuckled and shook my head. He glanced at me,

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just… do you always grumble when you have to do something you don't want to?" For a moment he turned red and looked embarrassed before he covered it up with his brash attitude,

"Listen here, missy, I'm probably just old enough to be your father and I work with inept children on this ship so I think I'm entitled to grumble every now and then." He must have noticed the sad look in my eyes because his face softened a bit,

"You don't have a father do you." It was more of a statement that a question,

"I did, a long time ago."

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright, you didn't know. Besides, like I said, that was a long time ago." The turbo lift opened and I followed him out down yet another corridor.

"Still, my apologies. Is that why Admiral Pike was so…"

"Father like?" He chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, he was best friends with both my father and mother. She passed away just before I went into the academy." He put a hand on my shoulder and I looked up into his eyes to see the sorrow in them,

"I'm sorry, it's a terrible thing to lose both parents." I gave him a smile,

"Thank you doctor."

"Please, call me McCoy, Leonard, Bones. Anything but my rank or doctor." I laughed,

"Okay, why Bones though?"

"It's a nickname that Jim gave me. The captain I mean."

"Alright, I think I'll stick with McCoy for now, only if you promise not to call me by rank either." He laughed,

"Sound good to me." He stopped right outside a door, "These are your quarters. It's code activated so just type in a code and that will be how you open the door from now on." I thought about it for a few second before punching in a five digit number and the door opened, "How old are you kid?"

"I just turned eighteen. It's 62269 if you're interested." He gave me a questioning look as he followed me in,

"Wow, that's young and I'm not following you." I chuckled as I chucked my bag onto my bed and turned to him,

"The code. It's a name."

"Okay, but why tell me? I mean, you just met me, why would you tell me the code to your room?" I chuckled,

"Because you're my friend. So I don't care if you know the code. I trust you." We walked back out and headed for the turbo lift again,

"You're quick to trust."

"Or I'm a good judge of character." He smiled at me,

"You know, I think Pike was right. We will get along well." I laughed and so did he. We stepped into the turbo lift and that was when he noticed something, "Your uniform is different." I smiled at him,

"I know. I'm in engineering so I shouldn't have my legs exposed. Besides, I hate the women's uniforms. They're too short." He laughed,

"It doesn't surprise me that you're in engineering or that you're in a man's uniform."

"I'm not **just** an engineer I'll have you know." We walked out of the turbo lift and down another corridor,

"Really," The sarcastic tone made me laugh, "And what else do you do besides engineering?" we stopped just outside of the engineering room,

"I'm also trained to be a doctor." His eyebrows shot up in surprise,

"Really? Well then **why** are you in engineering?" I laughed,

"Because I like engineering just as much as I like being a doctor."

"But I could've used a good doctor, not these-"

"Inept children?" I finished for him with a laugh,

"Yes! They don't know how to do anything properly!" I continued to laugh as we walked through engineering and stopped just in front of a young man, older than me but younger than McCoy by a few years at least,

"Well if you ever need a hand, just give me a call and I'll help you out." He actually smiled at me and put his arm around my shoulder,

"Sounds good kid. Hey Scotty, this is your new assistant. Amaya meet Montgomery Scott. Scotty, this is Amaya O'Callaghan." The man grinned at me,

"It's a pleasure ta' meet ya lass, call me Scotty." I grinned at him,

"Scotsman, not far from my home 'eh?" I let my Irish accent take control and I watched as his eyes brightened as his face lit up and McCoy groaned,

"You're Irish! Oh it's so good ta' hear another person from the Kingdom." I laughed and looked at McCoy,

"You didn't have an accent a few minutes ago? Where did that come from?"

"I'm very good at hiding it when I need to." He scoffed,

"Hey, you didn't get made fun of for this accent did ya?" Again letting the Irish accent flow freely. He smirked at me,

"Nah, a southern boy like me? Just cos' an Irish accent is far worse than a southern one. Doesn't mean it didn't happen." The sarcasm dripped as he let the southern twang coat his words. I grinned at him,

"You learned to cover as well." The three of us laughed,

"I'll catch you at lunch kid." He ruffled my hair before heading to the turbo lift,

"Sounds good, see you McCoy!" Just as he got into the lift he popped his head out,

"Oh yeah, by the way, what was the name you picked for your code?" I laughed,

"You'll have to figure that out." He grumbled and pushed the button for the lift to go back up. I turned to Scotty,'

"So you're my new engineer, we'll I can honestly say that we'll get along jus' fine. How 'bout I give you a quick rundown of the place then we'll get ta' work. See what ya' can do?" I smiled deciding to slip into my Irish accent with him,

"Sounds wonderful." He grinned and spent the next hour and a half showing me everything and testing my skills.

"Well, I couldn't have asked for a better assistant." Something, just past me, up to my left caught his eye, "Get down from there! That is not for you to climb on!" I looked at where he was looking to see a creature sitting up on some piping. He made a face at him before slowly climbing down, "Stupid little… anyway come meet the new recruit. Amaya, this is Keenser he's… well I don't really know what he is but he's a good mate. Except when he climbs on things he shouldn't." I laughed,

"Nice to meet you Keenser." The little guy walked up to me and took hold of my hand and I smiled at him, "Very clever." Scotty gave me a confused look,

"What do mean by that?" I laughed as I held onto Keenser's hand,

"Keenser figured out I was telepathic." Scotty stared at me with wide eyes and an open mouth,

"Two of ya!"

"I'm sorry?"

"Mr. Spock, the commander, he's telepathic. He's a Vulcan. Well, half Vulcan actually." I let go of Keenser's hand and smiled at Scotty, "You're not like him though. You're not… emotionless." I laughed,

"Neither are Vulcans. They simply mask them because they are too powerful. And I'm not a Vulcan."

"You're not? Then what are ya lass?"

"I'm a Betazoid. Well, half Betazoid. My father was human and my mother a Betazoid. So you can guess my father was Irish. I'm also empathetic. So again, not Vulcan. Look at me Scotty, what do you notice that's different about me?" he stared at me in concentration before his eyes went wide,

"Your eyes! They're black!" I smiled,

"Very good Scotty. I'm surprised it took you that long though." He shrugged,

"Doesn't bother me none. Your still the best assistant yet. Now come on, let's get some lunch." We headed up to the Mess Hall where we got a tray of food before sitting down at a table. Me across from Scotty. We talked a bit about where we were both from in our countries and what we liked to do, still using my natural Irish accent. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see McCoy,

"Hey kid."

"Ello McCoy, care to join us?" He smirked and sat down next to me,

"Only if you stop using that accent." Two more people sat down beside Scotty,

"Oh, does it bother ya when I talk like this?" He gave me a mock glare and the two new comers laughed,

"Yes, now cut it out before I smack you." The others laughed again and I went back to the American accent,

"There, that better?" He smirked at me,

"Yes, thank you. Amaya, this is helmsman Hikaru Sulu and navigator Pavel Chekov. Guys this is Amaya O'Callaghan assistant engineer." Chekov smiled at me but seemed nervous. He was very young.

"Nice to meet you." Sulu stuck out his hand which I glanced at before looking up at him with a sorry expression,

"I would shake your hand but I don't think you would like the result." He gave me a confused look as did the Doctor and navigator. So I explained, "I'm half Betazoid. Meaning that I'm telepathic and empathetic. It's skin contact, so if you still want that hand shake…" I grinned as a fleeting look of fear crossed his face,

"Uh," I laughed,

"It's alright. I won't be offended." McCoy looked at me clearly in shock,

"You didn't tell me that!" I chuckled,

"You didn't ask." He opened his mouth to make a retort but found my answer to be a good one and shut it again and shrugged,

"I see your point."

"Look at her eyes, those are different as well." They did and whistled when they saw my black irises.

"How did I miss that?"

"Well **doctor **I think you were simply more interested in getting to know me then my looks. For that I thank you." He grinned at me and ruffled my hair.

"Kid, I feel I should warn you about our captain."

"Oh?"

"He's, well, the best way I can put it is I got to know your personality but he'll want to get to know your body." I laughed.

"Well I can guarantee you that I'm not into that sort of thing." He let out a sigh of relief,

"Oh good, cos I was afraid I was going to have to castrate our captain." The three men at the table looked horrified while I was simply confused,

"Why would you have to do that?" He put his arm around my shoulder,

"Because I wouldn't let him touch you." I smiled and hugged him. The others looking at us with amazed and still slightly horrified looks,

"Aw, thanks McCoy. You know I think Pike would order it if he did?" He laughed,

"You know I think he would as well."

"What is wrong with you two! You're talking about the captain! Ya can't just-"

"Can't what Scotty? And that goes for the rest of ya, if you touch her I **will **do it." McCoy leaned forward a bit with his elbows on the table giving them a look that clearly stated he would do it. I laughed at the look of complete fear on their faces. They were so frightened that I could actually feel it, it rolled off of them in waves. Three more trays where sat down, two by me and one by Chekov.

"What's the look for guys?" I looked beside me to see a young man. He had blond hair with blue eyes. Beside him was Spock, I knew this because Scotty said he was the only Vulcan. He held a controlled emotionless expression. He had the pointed ears of a Vulcan and yet his eyes, they were so human. I thought they looked quite nice actually. Then I looked at the woman who sat down next to Chekov. She had long, straight black hair. She had dark skin and brown eyes. Scotty gulped at the look McCoy gave him,

"We've just been threatened." The man beside me furrowed his brow,

"By who?" He nodded to the doctor making the other man laugh,

"McCoy? Why?" He was still clearly amused as the smirk resided on his lips even as McCoy began to tell him his threat,

"I told them if they touch Amaya I'll castrate them. And that also extends to you **captain**. Actually it applies more to you Jim than it does to anybody else here."

"Oh come on Bones you can't be serious?" The look he gave him clearly stated he was,

"Bones! I'm the captain, you can't castrate me."

"I can if the Admiral orders me to." He scoffed,

"The Admiral wouldn't do that to me. He knows how I am. He would've said something by now if it was a problem." McCoy leaned in front of me making his hand brush mine,

"Believe me, the Admiral would gladly let me if you did." I felt the anger and protectiveness seep into me. If wasn't a possessive sort of protection but more of a brotherly kind. _'He touches her and he's a dead man. I'll sneak into his room in the middle of the night if I have to.'_ I chuckled as he pulled back,

"I don't think sneaking into his room will help you as you've already stated that you would be the one castrating him Leo." He gave me a shocked look as did the others. I held up my hand and that was when recognition dawned him,

"You heard that huh?" I laughed,

"And I felt the anger and the brotherly protectiveness. It's nice to know you care so much." He turned a bit red before shoving me a bit,

"Well somebody has to look after you." I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked over at the captain,

"Captain Kirk, but call me Jim. And who might you be beautiful?" I laughed as McCoy growled,

"Lieutenant Amaya O'Callaghan." His eye went wide as his face went red,

"Oh, so **you're** Amaya! Well, ah, I-"

"There's no way you're going to be able to save face captain. To put it plainly, you are a player." The table broke out in laughter, that is except for our Vulcan companion of course. I looked at him and he I. We were studding each other as it were.

"You are a Betazoid." I nodded,

"And you are a Vulcan." Kirk looked from me to him confusion etched across his face,

"What does he mean by that?"

"He means exactly what he said, I am a Betazoid. Half to be correct. I'm also part human." Kirk turned to Spock,

"How did you know Spock?"

"Her eyes. They are black. And that is the color of all Betazoid eyes." It was then that everyone again stared at my eyes and the woman gasped. I smiled a bit,

"Very good Spock, and if I may point out the fact that your eyes tell me that you are half human as well." He nodded his head,

"You would be correct in making such statement." I turned to the woman, who stuck her hand out to me,

"I'm Nyota Uhura. Communicatons." I smiled at her but did not shake her hand. Sulu looked at her,

"I wouldn't do that?" She looked at him,

"And why not?" I opened my mouth to explain but Spock cut me off,

"Betazoids are telepathic as well as empathetic. Therefore if you touch her skin she can read you. Your thoughts and emotions." I nodded my head in approval and Uhura lowered her hand,

"You are correct Spock." Scotty looked at his PADD and sighed,

"Well Amaya I think we best get back to engineering. It appears one of the cadets is stumped with how to properly hook up the Dylthium chamber." I chuckled and stood with Scotty,

"Alright Scotty, let's show 'em how it's done." My accent slipping out again. Everyone except McCoy stared at me. Then I felt a slap on the back of my head. "Hey!"

"I thought I told you to cut that out!" I pushed McCoy and he shoved back,

"Eh she's my assistant and therefore can talk with the accent. It makes things much homier." I smiled at Scotty before giving McCoy a mock glare,

"You're Scottish?" I looked at Jim and rolled my eyes,

"No Jim I'm not."

"But-"

"I believe it was Irish correct?" I smiled at Spock,

"You are again correct Spock. Very good indeed. See you all later." As we began to walk away McCoy called out,

"I'll need to see you for your physical!"

"So would I. Ow!" I smirked McCoy had slapped Jim in the head.

"Very well Leo, I'll see you later. Oh, and Jim, Leo here is right. The Admiral will order him to castrate you, Pike is a family friend." He paled at that making the rest of the table laugh. I think I'm going to like it here.


	2. Emotions run high

Scotty and I worked for another three hours trying to undo the entire cross wiring that one of the bumbling cadets had done on the Dylthium Chamber.

"Have you got it yet lass?"

"No! That block head cross wired so many things, and blew out three circuit breakers! I'm gonna need a few more minutes. How are things on your end?"

"Well, I've got the main circuits rewired and I've managed to save the battery cells."

"Well then I guess when I'm finished we'll be done."

"Aye, and then you are supposed to head up for you physical." I chuckled,

"Done." I crawled out of the little crawlspace I was in on the second level and jumped down.

"You're almost as bad as Keenser, there is a ladder ya know."

"I know, but I like the feelin' ya get when ya jump from high places." He smirked at me as he shoved me toward the lift,

"Stubborn girl. Off with ya then. We'll be done for the day."

"Sounds good. See ya latter Scotty!"

"See ya lass!" I went up to Sick Bay and saw McCoy standing over Jim who was nursing a bruised hand.

"What did you do?" Both men glanced at me,

"I was, ah, sparring with Sulu." McCoy rolled his eyes,

"He punched a wall." I laughed,

"Seriously?"

"Well I didn't plan on doing it! I was aiming for Sulu! But he moved too fast and I hit the wall instead." He grumbled before McCoy rolled his eyes and stuck him in the neck with a hypo. "Ow! Why do you do that?"

"Quit whining. Don't be such a child." He turned to me and grabbed his PADD, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." In about twenty minutes my physical was over. Jim was there almost the whole time until McCoy had to check me over. That was when he chased him out. At the end of it I sat on the edge of a bed as he looked over the results,

"You're almost as good as pointy ears!" I chuckled a bit,

"Be nice." He gave me a small smile,

"Your numbers are almost off the chart. At least your insides are all in the correct place and your blood is red." I rolled my eyes but smiled as well,

"You are top condition Lieutenant. Just need to give you a few vaccines." He pulled out two hypos and very quickly injected them in my neck, "That didn't hurt at all. I thought Jim was complaining because it hurt?"

"I like you, so I'm not gonna hurt ya I like I do him." I laughed,

"Well then I'm glad we're friends. Scotty gave me the rest of the afternoon off, do you need any help?"

"No, I think I'll b fine. You should head to one of the Rec Rooms."

"Will you join me?"

"Later, like twenty minutes or so. I've just got some paper work to fill and then I'll find you."

"Alright, see ya then." He nodded his head and I began to make my way to one of the Rec Rooms. I looked around to see if I would recognize anybody and I did. "Hello Spock. Mind if I join you?"

"I do not mind Lieutenant." I sat down beside him and noticed he was playing chess,

"Please, call me Amaya. I never did ask if it was alright for me to call you by your name did I?"

"No offense was intended and we were not on duty, therefore I saw no reason to correct you."

"Thank you." He nodded his head and moved another piece, "Do you mind if I play?" He looked at me and for a brief second I saw surprise in his eyes before he masked his emotions,

"I am always willing to play against an actual person in place of the computer." I smiled at him and let him make the first move. We were quiet through most of our game. That is until he had a question for me,

"May I make an inquiry?" I smiled,

"You may." He hesitated as though not sure how to say whatever he was trying to say,

"Did you live on Betazed?" I grinned,

"No but I did live in Ireland. Hence the accent." I moved my rook before continuing, "My father was Irish, my mother Betazoid. I've never been to Betazed." He nodded his head before moving his bishop, "Spock, may I make an inquiry?" He nodded again,

"Which of your parents was human?" He tensed, not enough for anyone to notice, that is except for me. He hesitated and that was when I felt the emotions roll off of him in waves though his faced showed none of them. Anger, sadness, and pain. Lots of pain, "I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

"My mother." I nodded my head and didn't push. I felt bad for bringing it up,

"I am sorry for bringing it up."

"You did not know so there is nothing to apologize for. My mother was lost on Vulcan when the planet was destroyed." My heart broke. I felt so much pain. Not only my pain but his as well. It seeped into my heart and I felt tears begin to prick my eyes. Such strong sadness and anger. The amount of anguish that there was almost overwhelmed me, "Amaya?" I looked up at him and saw the confusion in his eyes. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. Tears began to spill down my cheeks. Just then McCoy entered the room and when he saw me he rushed over,

"What happened? He knelt down in front of me and took hold of my arms, "Amaya what's wrong?" He looked at Spock, "What did you say?"

"I do not know why she is in this state? Nothing I could have said could create this amount of distress from her." He went to wipe my tears away but Spock stopped him, "If you touch her all of the pain she is feeling will coarse through you as well. This is not something to be taken lightly." I saw the sad look in McCoy's eyes as he pulled me to him letting me bury my face into his chest. I began to sob. People where staring I knew they were but I couldn't control it. The amount of heartache that I felt from Spock was overwhelming me.

"Shhhh, it's okay kid. It's okay. I'm here. I've gotcha ya." I could feel shock start to build in Spock and knew that he finally understood what was happening. I could feel him pull back on the raging see of pain and sorrow and begin to lock it away. I slowly began to feel my own emotions again and the sobbing began to stop. When I had finished crying I pulled back from McCoy an noticed the concern that filled his face,

"Are you okay now?" I nodded my head, "Do you want to talk about it?" Weakly I responded,

"A little later maybe. I have a headache from all this crying, do you think you can do something?" He gave me a small smile,

"I think I've got a hypo for that." He stood and kissed my forehead before heading off to sick bay. I looked up at Spock who stared intently into my eyes,

"I am sorry for what I have put you through-"

"No Spock, I'm sorry. I knew Vulcans had strong emotions but I had never been around one until I met you. I was not prepared for the fact that emotion rolls off of you. You feel so strongly that it rolls off of you like waves on the ocean. I'm so sorry Spock."

"It was my emotion that-"

"I asked the question though. I caused your grief. And for that I am sorry."

"You are empathetic, you feel just as strongly as Vulcans if you wish. You receive emotion and I overwhelmed you with the ferocity of mine. I should have remembered that. Are you really feeling better? I know you lied to the doctor so we could discuss what happened." I gave him a small smile,

"A bit. It's hard to have that much pain and anger at one time. How did you know I was lying?"

"Just as you felt my emotions I could feel yours. We created an empathetic link. My mind pushed my emotions to you because you were willing to accept them."

"I'm always willing to help those who need it, I have always been that way."

"May I help in soothing your emotions?" I hesitated but nodded. He reached his hand out and placed it on my covered wrist before taking hold of the other one. I shut my eyes and it was then that I felt a calmness and peace run through me. My breathing relaxed as did my muscles and I felt everything just relax. When he pulled away I opened my eyes and found that he was still sitting in front of me,

"Thank you."

"I was the one who caused your emotional pain and therefore I should be the one to soothe it… but you are welcome." I gave him a small smile just before McCoy came back with hypo. He stuck it in my neck and injected me,

"There, that should help with the headache. Now I suggest you go to your room and get some sleep."

"We shall have to finish our game tomorrow Spock."

"It would appear so. I shall see you tomorrow then Amaya. Doctor." He nodded his head to both of us and walked out. McCoy put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him,

"Come on, I'll take ya to your room." We walked down the corridor to the lift and once inside I was asleep standing up leaning against McCoy. When the door opened he lifted me up and carried me to my room. He punched in the code and carried me into my room. He put me on the bed and tucked me in, "Sleep tight kid." And then I was completely out.


	3. A bond is formed and the past relived

When I opened my eyes and found that it was four in the morning. I still had two hour left before I had to wake up. I sighed knowing that I would not be able to fall asleep I decided to get up and get ready for the day. I showered and put on my under clothes. I stared at myself in the mirror. All the scars and the massive black tribal tattoo that traveled up back and over my shoulders ending just above my elbows. It traveled around my back and shoulder blades in swirling designs. The beautiful designs contrasted harshly against the scars that covered my torso. I sighed and put my long sleeved red shirt on before pulling my black pants on then lacing up my boots. I walked out of my room and walked around the ship. No one was up except for the night shift. I kept walking until I came to the Rec Room that I was in yesterday. I smiled a bit, Spock was inside. I walked into the room and stood next to him. He was in a bit of a trance but came out of it when he sensed my presence.

"May I join you?" He nodded and I sat down next to him,

"May I make a personal inquiry?" I nodded,

"Why are you awake at such an hour? Most humans are still asleep."

"I am not all human am I?" He simply nodded,

"You are correct. Just as I am not all human either."

"I woke earlier than I expected and simply decided to get up and get ready for the day." He nodded again,

"May I make another inquiry?" I smiled,

"You don't have to ask my permission Spock. If you have a question you may simply ask it." He nodded,

"Acknowledged. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I am feeling much better. Thank you." He simply nodded,

"Why do you speak differently with me than you do with the others?" I smiled seeing how he simply asked his question instead of asking for permission again,

"Because you are a brilliant being and very logical. I am trying to understand you so that I might be able to talk to you on your level."

"Why?" I gave him a confused look so he clarified, "Why do you wish to converse with me?" I smiled at him,

"Because I find you to be interesting and if you wish I would like to be your friend as well." He gave me a curious gaze,

"I do not make friends easily. I am not sure how I came to have the friends I do here. It is… a different concept. I am told I am cold and distant." He put his head down. I gazed at him sadly before placing my hand on his covered arm. He tensed and then slowly relaxed as I sent him vibes of relaxation. His brown human eyes sought mine,

"I don't find you cold or distant. I think you are misunderstood by others. They do not see the passion and emotion that resides within you. You do not have to explain your emotions to me because I understand them. I wish to be your friend, if you let me." He searched my eyes,

"I do not… feel deceit from you therefore logically I must believe you." I smiled at him,

"This one time don't let logic decide for you." He lifted an eyebrow at me,

"Then what do you suggest I decide with?"

"Decide what you want based on how you feel."

"That is highly-"

"Please, try. For me." He hesitantly put his hand over my covered arm,

"Then… I feel that I would enjoy your friendship if you would have it." I grinned,

"Then I consider you my friend." He gazed at me for a long time before he spoke,

"You, remind me of my mother. Soothing and caring and yet I sense that you have a… how the humans say… a fiery spirit?" I laughed,

"Yes, I believe that is a correct statement."

"Would you care to continue our match?" I smiled,

"Yes I think that sounds like a wonderful idea." As we finished our game, me losing of course, Spock offered to escort me to breakfast. I said yes and we began to make our way to the mess hall.

"May I make-"

"Spock." He glanced at me,

"Why do you smile so much?" And of course I couldn't help but smile,

"Because I like smiling. When I smile I'm happy. I like making others smile as well, my father used to say smiling is good for the soul." He raised an eyebrow at me as we walked into the mess,

"Most illogical." I laughed,

"Everyone needs to smile sometime."

"I fail to see the purpose of it." I shook my head as we got our food and headed to a table,

"One day Spock, I will get you to smile. And then, maybe you'll understand." He nodded as a way of saying it was a suffice answer. We were soon joined by the others.

"So Amaya how did you like your first day on the ship?"

"I like it a lot Jim. It's so big; I haven't had time to explore it yet." He grinned at me,

"If you like I could give you a personal tour." Anger rolled of McCoy in waves,

"Jim-"

"Relax Leo," I placed my hand on his shoulder and calmed him down, "Thank you Jim but Spock has already offered to do so." I looked at Spock trying to convey my desperation to him through our small empathetic connection. Everyone stared at him almost surprised that he had offered to do something like that,

"Really Spock? You offered to give her a tour?" Again I tried to plea to him through our connection. It wasn't a strong one simply because it was made only yesterday but it was a connection none the less,

"Indeed captain. When conversing this morning I offered her a tour of the ship seeing how she has not yet seen all of it." Jim stared at him as if trying to tell if he was bluffing,

"Alright, I relinquish you then into the capable hands of my first officer Mr. Spock. And what did I tell you about calling me captain when we're not on duty? Call me Jim." Spock stared back at him,

"If that is what you wish…Jim." The conversation flowed freely for the next half an hour before we all had to report to our stations. Spock and I hung in the back,

"Thank you, for telling him that you were already going to give me a tour. I wasn't sure if you would catch on."

"Yes I was able to… feel your desperation through the weak empathetic connection we have. Why did you lie to him?"

"In all honesty, I didn't want to be with him alone for hours. I'm not yet completely comfortable with him. I like him, but I do not care for his advancements as it were. He is very much a flirt and I do not care for that sort of thing." He nodded his head in understanding,

"Should we continue to practice our empathetic bond it will go stronger and we will be able to convey emotions from greater distances."

"Are you saying you would like to strengthen our empathetic bond?" He hesitantly nodded, "You want someone to share your emotions with without having to put it into words don't you?" He nodded again,

"It is like you said, we are not so different emotions and you understand them better than anyone on this ship. It would be… good to have an outlet as it were. If that is alright with you." I smiled,

"Of course it is. Maybe we can start when you give me that tour?" He nodded and I could almost a glimmer of happiness in his eyes,

"That would please me. Shall I come by engineering after our shift?"

"I think that would be wonderful."

"Very well then. I shall meet you afterwards." And with that we parted ways. Me to engineering and him to the bridge. It was three hours of rewiring and pulling circuits out and replacing them with new ones before I got a break. Scotty and I sat on the floor up against the cooling system.

"So you and Spock 'eh?" I mock glared at him,

"What are you talkin' about ol' man?" He playfully shoved me,

"I'm not **that** old! And I mean, he's givin' you a tour? The man never does social situations unless forced to!"

"We have an arrangement of sorts. We're going to practice my empathetic abilities." He gave me a confused look. "Here let me show you." I placed my hand on his arm and thought about something that made me angry. "Do you feel that?"

"Yeah, yeah I feel… angry. Is that you?" I nodded,

"Now you think of something that makes you happy." He did and slowly my anger went away, "Very good. You and I shared emotions without conveying thought. I made you angry and you made me happy."

"That's quite interesting that is. If I didn't consider you one of my mates I would be very afraid 'bout now." I laughed. There was a sound above us and we looked up to see Keenser sitting on the massive cooling tank, "Get down from there! Keenser get down now!" He didn't move but simply made a face at him, "If that thing pops a gasket or something you might get your foot frozen up there!" I chuckled,

"I'll fetch him." I began to climb the ladder attached to the tank,

"Be careful now lass! I don't want you getting' hurt cos'o him!"

"Relax Scotty, I'll be fine!" I reached the top and began to carefully walk over toward the little guy. My foot slipped only once but I caught myself,

"Don't do that to me lass! I nearly had a heart attack!" Once I was close enough I took hold of his hand and lead him back to the ladder. He went down first and then I followed,

"What were ya thinkin'!" Scotty pulled me into a hug forgetting about the telepathy and empathy or just simply not caring. Relief flooded my senses as Scotty held me, _'Good God I don't want her to ever do that again. I'm too old to be scared like that.' _I couldn't help but chuckle as he pulled back, "Never are never allowed to go up there again. If he gets himself stuck up there than he can get himself down again but you will **not** go back up there. Ya hear me?" I nodded and grinned at the overprotectiveness he was showing. Scotty became more and more like family to me. We didn't have the same connection as McCoy and I shared but it was very similar. More like a cousin instead of a brother. Willing to risk a bit of danger but still wanting to protect.

"I won't Scotty, I promise. Isn't it lunch time?" He looked at his PADD and grinned,

"I do believe it is. Shall we set off then?"

"I think so." And with that we headed off toward the mess hall. Again we sat at our table with its usual company but this time I ended up between Sulu and Uhura and Spock sat across from me. I turned to Sulu,

"I hear you're a good sparring partner." He smiled at me,

"I'm always open to a good spar."

"Well I think I may be a bit rusty on my sparring, could you possibly go a few rounds with me?" I grinned,

"I believe I can." Jim laughed,

"Oh this I gotta see. You saw what happened to me, and besides are you sure you'll be able to hold your own?" I gave him a smirk,

"You will have to wait and see Jim." Curiosity seemed to trickle into my senses and I looked directly across from. It was from Spock that much I knew. Only strong emotions come off of humans that are not in contact. This wasn't strong so therefore it belonged to Spock. "How about later this afternoon. After my tour with Spock?"

"How does training room four sound?" I grinned,

"Sounds good." The rest of lunch went quickly and we all went our separate ways. After five more hours in engineering my shift ended. I was currently wiping some of the smudges off my face when right on time Spock exited the turbo lift.

"Scotty! I think our shift's over!" He glanced over at Spock and the two nodded to one another in greeting,

"Alright then, go on. I'm gonna stay here a wee bit longer and fiddle wit' the power cells." I chuckled,

"Just don't go draining 'em while I'm gone alright?" He laughed,

"Get out of here!" I laughed and followed Spock into the turbo lift. He glanced at me,

"Where would you like to begin the tour?"

"How about the bridge? Means we can get through having to talk to Jim faster and leaves more time for working on our connection." He nodded his head,

"Very well." As we started going up I glanced at Spock before biting my lip,

"Spock, may ask a favor of you?" He raised an eyebrow before nodding his head, "Could you… I mean is it possible, and if it's not it's alright, but, um, could you possibly teach me to… control my emotions? It would help when my emotions get the better of me and when I get bombarded by others. I've never been good at being able to control them and, well, you are." He stared at me intently,

"I cannot teach you how to mask your emotions if that is what you are asking, but I can teach you to control them so as not to overwhelm you." I smiled at him as we came to a stop and the door opened,

"Thank you Spock." We walked out onto the bridge and were greeted by the others,

"Aw, Mr. Spock, I see you've started your tour. Is this your first stop?" I smiled at Jim as he leaned against the arm of the captain's chair. Spock nodded and I told him we're beginning here and making our way down, "And then head back to the training room so I can watch Sulu kick you into Sick Bay." I chuckled,

"I have no doubt that I will probably need to visit Sick Bay after our spar but I look forward to being able to brush up on my fighting skills. As long as I can get in there without Doctor McCoy seeing me. He'll skin me for sure." Kirk laughed and Spock merely furrowed his brow in confusion,

"Why would Doctor McCoy skin you for something as becoming injured in a sparring match?" I smiled at the fact that he didn't know it was just a human phrase,

"He won't. It's a human saying meaning that he will be very angry with me if I get myself hurt." He nodded his head in understanding though I still saw that he didn't fully understand the saying. He took me to each station and pointed things out and what did what before we headed back to the turbo lift. All the while working on strengthening our empathetic bond. Spock found it extremely fascinating. It mainly consisted of me sending him vibes of emotions. And at times I could feel something from him in return. It was usually curiosity but there was a moment where I felt understanding pass between us when my parents were brought up. By the end of our tour we headed back to my quarters where I quickly changed into a black shirt with sleeves that ended in the middle of my forearm and black capris, both made out of a special material that made it feel like a second skin. I walked out of the bathroom to find Spock still standing in the middle of room with his arms behind his back as he was observing my room. I began to braid my hair as I watched him look at a picture on my desk. It was of a me and my friend Thritha Chale who was an Andorian,

"We were twelve. She had just moved to San Francisco from Andoria and I from Ireland. She was nice and funny. She was such a sweet girl." Spock looked at me,

"I am sensing a sadness from you, might I inquire as to what happened?"

"When I joined the Academy I didn't see her as much because I was so busy. And over summer break when I went to see her I found out that she was sick. Really sick. So I went to see her in the hospital and found that she had a very rare case of Andorian shingles. While I was visiting her she started crying and her eyes started bleeding. I was frightened so I ran. I ran out of the hospital and didn't go back that day. About a week later I went to see her again only…" Spock must have sense my heartache because he finished my thought for me,

"She died." I nodded fighting off the tears that began to sting my eyes,

"Three days after I had seen her. I felt horrible. The last memory she had of me was me running out of the hospital while she was in pain. What kind of friend does that? After that I never went back home. I stayed at the Academy, even during the summer." I could feel Spock sending me calm and peaceful emotions and I began to feel better. I looked away from the picture and into his brown eyes,

"I am sure that was not what she was thinking of when she passed. She was most likely reflecting on the times you had together as children. She would not have felt angry with you."

"Thank you." He nodded his head before leading me out of my room and to the training room. When we reached the training room Sulu was already there warming up. And of course Jim, Scotty, and Pavel where all there.

"There she is! And might I say you look- Ow!" Scotty cut him off with a slap to the back of the head,

"Oh knock it off! Ya lost mate, give up." Jim grumbled and rubbed the back of his head. I chuckled and looked to Sulu,

"Give me a minute to warm up?" He smiled,

"Sure." I warmed up and then told Sulu I was ready. About three minutes in I realized that I may have made a mistake in choosing Sulu as a sparring partner. He was good. Very good. I held my own and even landed some hits but after ten minutes he had me on my back. Jim laughed his head off as Sulu helped me up, "Do you want to go again?"

"Yeah I think I would. I want to try and get you down." And so we went at it again. This time I knew better and defended myself much better than I did the first round. About twenty-five minutes in he went to do a roundhouse kick when I took hold of his foot and kicked the other one out from underneath him. Scotty cheered,

"That's it lass! I knew you had fighting Irish blood in ya!" I laughed as Jim groaned,

"Sulu, you need to win the next round!" Sulu and I looked at each other in confusion before turning to Jim.

"We never decided on going another round."

"But you have to!" I glanced at him before pulling Sulu up. We were both panting,

"Why… why do you need us to go another round?"

"Because I need to win my money back from the Scotsman!" We groaned as we realized the two were betting on us.

"Really Jim? You bet on us?" he shook his head,

"I bet on him. I said he'd win the second round and Scotty said you would. Now he has two hundred bucks and I wanna win them back double or nothing on the next round." I glanced at Sulu,

"Do you think you could go another round?" He wiped his forehead,

"I think so. If we take a break first and maybe get a drink."

"That sounds great." We both sat down on a bench and wiped the sweat off of us with a towel before grabbing a bottle of water.

"How do ya feel lass?" Scotty stood in front of me holding out another towel for me,

"Thanks, and I feel like a piece of meat that's been tenderized."

"You are in pain then?" I looked at Spock who wasn't sure about the analogy I had made,

"Yes, I'm very sore and the only way I beat him the last round was by pure luck."

"You are a very good opponent and with more practice could beat Sulu on a regular basis." I took it as a complement and smiled at him,

"Thank you." After a few more minutes I stood up and stretched before heading back onto the mat with Sulu. We went at it hard, each of us trying to get the other down so we could be done. We both threw punches and we both took punches. Though I think I took more than Sulu. He landed a right cross that dazed me for a moment and before I knew it I was on the ground. Immense pain shot through my body as I laid there feeling all the pain hit me at once. Scotty groaned as Jim cheered and Sulu simply lied down on the mat breathing heavily. Spock suddenly came in my line of vision, standing directly over me,

"Are you… alright? You are in much pain. It is both visible on your face and through our connection." I nodded slightly,

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit beat up I think." I slowly got up and winced when I straightened my back out. "Just a bruised back and limbs. Nothing to worry about and nothing can't handle." He hesitantly nodded,

"Shall I escort you back to your quarters?"

"Sure, why not." We walked slowly back to my room and could feel a bit of concern come off of Spock, "I'm fine Spock, really."

"I believe that a visit to Doctor McCoy would be most beneficial seeing how he could easily relieve the pain for you." I shook my head,

"I'm good. I'm a doctor to you know. Will it make you feel better if I promise that I will go to Sick Bay if I don't get better?" I could feel a bit of frustration and knew it was not the answer he wanted but he nodded none the less. We stopped just outside my room, "Thanks for walking me to my room."

"I shall leave you to retire for the evening."

"Night." He nodded and left. When I got in my room I went straight for the shower and stripped my clothes off before rinsing off all the sweat and grease from the day. When I got out I noticed that I had a bruise on my left leg, my right cheek, and a huge one on my lower back that spread across the bottom of my tattoo and even onto my side. I sighed knowing that Leo would flip when he swathe bruise on my cheek. I changed into a tank top and shorts before replicating a bag of ice and then crawled into bed. Sleep began to overtake me and I relaxed. However the peace did not last when my door opened the lights came on. "What the- Leo!" He sat his bag on the bed before glaring at me,

"What were you thinking? Hm? I though you would've had enough sense to stop after the first round! If I had none you were gonna go two more rounds I would have never let you do it!"

"Leo-"

"You could've broken something or cracked a rib. You could've sprained your ankle of twisted arm. You could've-"

"Leo! Relax, I'm alright. I've just got some bruises." He sighed and ran a hand over his face,

"Alright set up. Let me have a look." My eyes widened a bit and I pulled the covers up to my neck,

"Why? Can't you just hypo me with some painkillers and a sedative?" he rolled his eyes at me,

"You know very well **doctor** that I need to see them in case they are inflamed." I sighed,

"But-"

"No, buts. Come on sit up and show me the bruises or I'll order you to be taken to Sick Bay and I can have you stay there for a week."

"You wouldn't." He smirked at me,

"I would." I glared at him before pulling the covers down. I noticed his surprised look at the tattoos on my arms as they disappeared under my tank. I showed him my leg and cheek first.

"Okay, that's it." He grumbled before threatening to take me to Sick Bay again.

"Fine but… don't… don't judge me. Okay?" He gave me a curious expression before nodding,

"I promise." I turned around and pulled my shirt up revealing the bruise as well as the massive black tribal tattoo. I felt him take a sharp breath before I felt his gentle hand on the bruise. I hissed, "Well, the other two were alright but this one is a bit inflamed." He stuck me with three hypos before letting me pull my shirt down. I didn't look at him. He sat down beside me on the bed, "Would you like to tell me about them? The tattoo and the scars?" I cursed,

"I had hopped you wouldn't see the scars." I sighed before looking up and meeting his gaze. His eyes held comfort for me, "Alright, I'll tell you. When I was in Ireland and my dad had just disappeared I had gotten into some scrapes. There was a gang I was constantly getting into a fight with. The Rebel Dogs they were called, they were strictly a human gang. They mocked me for my alien half. Called me half breed and other horrible names. I learned quickly how to street fight and became a runner for their rival gang The Bloody Irish. They were made up of aliens and half breeds like myself. That's where the scars come from. All the gang fights. I was young yeah but that was normal for The Bloody Irish, they offered protection from the humans who wanted to hurt us. But when I was twelve my mother found out that her child was a runner for a gang she packed us up and moved us to San Francisco. I made friends with an Andorian girl my age and started over. I moved on from the life of being in the gang. When I was fifteens my mother told me of how female warriors of Betazed had these black tribal tattoos to show their power and strength. That when they begin training to become a warrior they get these markings to represent beauty and fear. They were supposed to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies and show beauty to our people. So when I joined Starfleet…" he nodded in understanding,

"You got the tattoo. Why do you hide it?" I bit my lip,

"Because I'm ashamed of it."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not a warrior, I'm an engineer and a Doctor. I didn't know what it meant to be a warrior but when I did I realized that I was not one of them. Therefore I hide it."

"Oh kid, you are a warrior, you're a fighter. You proved it by fighting to stay alive against that gang in Ireland."

"That's not the same Leo." He pulled me to him and held me tight,

"You'll see one day kid. You'll see." I felt the brotherly love pour into me,

"Thanks Leo." He smirked at me,

"Sure thing kid. Now get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." He kissed my forehead before heading for the door,

"I should've never told you my passcode." I muttered. He chuckled,

"What's the name again?"

"I never told you. Nice try though." He smirked at me,

"It was worth a try, good night kid." And with that he left and I drifted off to sleep.


	4. Burning in the dark

The next day I went to breakfast and got a bowl of oatmeal and a banana before grabbing a glass of juice and heading to the table. Checkov and Uhura were already there,

"Hello Checkov, Uhura."

"Hello Amaya, an' how are you this morning?" Checkov's thick accent always made me smile,

"I'm a bit sore and stiff but other than that I'm fine. And how are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you." I looked at Uhura,

"And how are you Uhura?" She gave me a small smile,

"I'm well thanks for asking, I heard about you and Sulu's match the other day. And I applaud you at winning a round. It's nice to let the men know that we can still take them down a few pegs." I laughed,

"I agree, I'm definitely not fragile but I'm not indestructible either." I hissed a bit as I rubbed my back. It was then that I felt a small prick on my neck, "What the- Leo." He smirked at me as he sat down,

"Don't even try to tell me that you weren't hurting. I saw you rub the bruise on your back. Besides you'd only be coming up to Sick Bay in a few hours to get one." I scoffed at him,

"You underestimate me."

"No, I just know you're stubborn and would wait until Scotty had to carry you up because you hurt so much." I pushed him a bit and he ruffled my hair. Jim, Spock, Sulu, and Scotty all walked in at that point, got there food, and then joined us. Spock sat beside me and Jim on the other side of Leo while Sulu and Scotty sat across from us.

"Mornin' all, better eat quick lass. We just got new programs and they all need to be installed before the day's over." I groaned as the others chuckled,

"Scotty, you know we won't get it done all in one day. We don't have enough well trained people to get it done quickly and efficiently."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong lass. We just got a new cadet who's supposed to be the best out of his class. Between him, Danny, Yalek, you, and me we should be done in no time at all." I rolled my eyes,

"Scotty, because you said that I can guarantee it won't go well." The others laughed,

"As long as none of you end up in Sick Bay I don't care." Leo had a grouchy look on his face and chuckled at him,

"Oh come on sour puss, you know you'd love a visit from me." I nudged him a bit earning me a small smirk before that scowl of his appeared on his face again,

"Only if it's a social visit." I chuckled.

"I was serious lass, eat." I grumbled but did as I was told. We finished long before the others did. We said goodbye and departed for Engineering. When we got there we met up with the other "efficient" workers and began our task of reprogramming everything. About an hour into it Scotty called me to tell me Keenser was climbing around somewhere and that if I found him I was to get him down. Eventually I did find him. He was up on one of the cooling chambers, again. I sighed and began to climb up to get him. When I got up there I grabbed hold oh him and put him on my back.

'_You know he doesn't like it when you do that.'_

'_I know, but I like to climb. It's in my blood to do so.' _I chuckled as I began to make me descent,

'_He worries about you falling.'_

'_He worries about you as well. He won't admit it but he thinks that new cadet might have a thing for you.' _ We reached the bottom and I put Keenser down yet held his hand so we could still talk.

'_Fallor? He's just a creep. I noticed him leering at me. If something happened I think I could hold him off until help arrived.'_

'_I will watch him and alert you if he decides to become a problem.' _I smiled at him,

'_Thank you Keenser. Why do you not speak much? I've heard you say a few things to Scotty and I know you understand what we say.'_

'_You're right, I do understand what you say, but I have not mastered speaking the language. Scotty and I understand each other well enough to not have to use words. It's easier to talk to you like this.'_

'_I understand. I should probably get back to installing these programs.'_

'_Good luck with that.' _I smiled at him,

'_Don't go climbing on anything or get into trouble.'_ He gave me a small smirk and nodded his head before heading off in another direction. I chuckled before turning around. I jumped when I was face to face with Cadet Fallor.

"Cadet, you scared me."

"Sorry, that wasn't my intention. I saw you and the little… thing. You looked as though you were having a conversation but you never said anything." I narrowed my eyes a bit,

"His name is Keenser. And sometimes words aren't needed to communicate." I don't know why but his cool green eyes looked…wrong. Like they knew something I didn't know, hiding something more like it. "Excuse me, I need to get back to work as do you cadet." I went to brush past him and continue my work but he grabbed my hand. I gasped and froze for a moment before yanking my hand out of his grasp, "Don't touch me." I hissed at him. I cradled my hand to my chest as though I had been burned, and in a way I feel as though I have. His eyes widened for a moment before they darkened,

"I'm sorry Ama-"

"Lieutenant O'Callaghan, that is my title and you will address me as so." He stared me down a moment before giving me a stiff nod, "Now get back to work." I turned away from him and quickly went the other way. When I was around the corner I bolted for the lift. Once inside I called out a random deck and slid to the floor. I was still clutching my hand. Fear swelled within me. He felt like fire. My hand literally felt like it was burning. He had so much hate, anger, and malice in him. It was almost too great. And the one word I was able to get from his mind from our short connection was,

'_Burn.'_

It was one word but it was enough to frighten me. Keenser was right. There was something very wrong with him. I shut my eyes and pressed my head against my knees. I felt my body shaking and knew I was trembling. His emotions were far too strong for me. I didn't know how to handle them. Maybe if I was a full Betazoid I would've been able to handle them, but I'm only half. If this is what I felt like after only being in contact with him for a few seconds I don't even want to think about what it would feel like to be connected longer. I didn't realize that the lift had stopped or that my name was being called. It wasn't until a hand was placed on my arm that my head shot up and I recoiled away from the person with a gasp that I was brought out of my thoughts. My eyes met Spock's and it was then that I noticed I had gone up to the bridge. The others were staring curiously from behind him. I looked up at him and I could see controlled concern in his eyes and a slight frown on his lips,

"Amaya…" I tried to speak but nothing came out. He glanced at my hand, "Are you hurt?" I nodded and Jim turned his back before pressing a button on his com. My attention turned back to Spock as he moved a bit closer to me. This time I didn't recoil but I still felt the fear. I could feel him trying to send me vibes of peace and serenity to calm me down but it wasn't working, so he slowly reached out his hand and placed it on my arm. It rolled off him in stronger waves now and I began to relax under his touch. Jim turned back to us,

"I called Dr. McCoy, he'll be waiting for you in Sick Bay. Spock, take her down there and find out what happened." He stood and nodded his head before stepping into the lift. The doors closed,

"Sick Bay." The lift began to move and he crouched down next to me, "Can you stand?" I shook my head. I didn't trust my legs. He carefully placed one hand under my legs and the other on my back, avoiding skin contact as much as possible. He lifted me up and I laid my head against his chest. I was consumed in his emotions now, he was still sending me the calm vibes but I could feel the concern he had and it touched me. Most people don't like others being able to feel their every emotion. So the fact that he wasn't trying to hide it made me feel a bit better. When the lift opened Spock swiftly yet gracefully made his way to Sick Bay. Upon entering we were bombarded by the good doctor,

"What happened?" Spock sat me down on a biobed before turning to him,

"I do not know she appeared on the lift with her head on her knees on the ground. She was trembling and when we called her name she did not respond. When I touched her she recoiled and fear was very present in her emotions. She has not spoken and she has been clutching her right hand as though it were hurt." Leo ran a tricorder over me and scanned for anything unnatural.

"Her adrenalin is up, her heart rate is up, and her temperature is through the roof." He looked at me,

"Let me see your hand." I shook my head and he growled a bit at me, "Don't be stubborn. Let me see your hand. Or I'll sedate you." I hesitated before letting him pull my hand away from me. I was rather surprised to see that it was puffy and red. It really did look as though I had burned it on steam or hot water. Spock and Leo's aura shifted to one of deep concern.

'_What happened to you?' _ He ran the tricorder over it before letting go and heading to a cabinet where he pulled out an ice pack and a cloth. He ran the cloth under cool water before coming towards me again. He sat the pack on my lap and gently took hold of my hand before cradling it in the ice pack. He took the cloth and placed it against my head.

"Spock, hold this to her head. I need to get a hypo to reduce the swelling and a burn cream and bandages." Spock hesitated for a second before doing as he was told. Leo left to get his supplies. There was silence between us and I could feel Spock's concern grow,

"Amaya, what happened?" I looked at him dead in the eye and I saw his eyes sadden a bit, "Your eyes are dull and you do not smile. Please, tell me what is wrong." Still I said nothing, "I wish to help you… you are my friend." I felt my eyes tear up a bit. I was stronger then this. But for some reason I was starting to crack. Just then someone burst into the room and I could hear a distinct Scottish voice,

"Where is she? Amaya! Lassise where are ya?"

"Pipe down Scotty! She's over here." Leo appeared by my side with his supplies and soon enough so did Scotty.

"What happened Lass? I was workin' on one of the upgrades when Keenser came and dragged me from it and began to ramble about you and bein' in pain and runnin' off." I said nothing and worry spiked through him, "Lass?"

"She has not spoken since she appeared on the bridge. That was fifteen minutes ago." Spock's eyes were still locked with mine.

"Alright enough questions." Leo's voice was gruff and serious and neither of the other two men said a word. He stuck me with a hypo before applying the cream to my hand and wrapping it up. He grabbed another hypo before turning to me, "I'm going to give you a sedative. It'll help you sleep." I shook my head violently as he came toward me with it. I scrambled to get away from him. "Spock, Scotty I need you to hold her down." Fear escalated through me and I felt how torn the three were. They didn't want to but they knew they had to. I struggled as they kept a firm grip on me as Leo injected me with the sedative. Slowly I began to stop resisting and I felt my eyes droop with drug induced sleep. The last thing I heard was Leo saying, "I'm sorry darlin'."

Darkness. I was surrounded by darkness. There was a deep laugh from behind me. I whipped around but there was nothing in the dark. And yet there was. I couldn't see it but I could sense it. It was behind me yet every time I turned around it moved with me. Laughing at me in the dark.

'_There is no escape."_ I looked around for the voice but saw nothing, _"Nothing but the darkness and the fire." _My skin began to burn and I felt a fire burn in my chest. I screamed in the dark as the voice laughed. _"You will burn. Burning in the darkness."_ It continued to laugh as I screamed again,

"Amaya! Amaya, wake up!" I was drawn out of the darkness and back into the light. Back to reality. I opened my eyes to see Spock and Leo standing over me holding me down. I continued to scream. "Nurse! I need a sedative now!" Fear spiked through me at the thought of going back into the darkness. I screamed again unable to form intelligent words. I grabbed hold of Leo's hand and begged him through my mind to not do it. To not put me to sleep again, "Hold on nurse. I don't think I'll need it will I Amaya." I shook my head and gripped his hand tightly as I stopped screaming. I let go of his hand and it was then that I realized that I was trembling again. Spock gripped my elbow making me look at him,

"Will you let me see?" I stared into his eyes and saw that he was feeling my pain and my fear,

"What are the risks of you making a connection with her? She is a telepath as well, is this safe for not only her but you as well?" He looked at the Doctor and stared at him for a moment,

"Yes, there is a risk. It is possible for us to make a bond that is not by choice, but we are both half human so it is also possible for us to not bond." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair,

"I don't like it."

"If I can find what frightened her so I may also be able to get her to speak once again." He sighed,

"Amaya, if it's alright with you." I hesitated but nodded, "Alright, but I'm going to monitor both of your heart rates and brain activity. Any sign of-"

"Doctor, I can guarantee you that no harm shall come to her."

"Well, I'll still be monitoring." I looked into Spock's eyes and he into mine then he placed his right hand on my face. My eyes slid shut and I felt his presences enter my mind. It was warm and I felt a calm and peacefulness flow through me as he searched my mind. I sat alone in the dark with the fire burning in me. I looked up from my position on the floor and saw Spock standing in front of me,

'_Amaya.'_ He knelt down in front of me and took hold of my hand. His skin felt cool against my burning flesh, _'Show me what it is that makes you so frightened?'_ The presence in the dark moved again and Spock swiftly pulled me up and into his arms. He held me tightly as the voice laughed again,

'_You can not escape. Not for long. You will burn. Burn in the darkness.' _The voice continued to laugh. My skin began to feel like it was on fire again and I clung onto Spock and cried into his chest. He held me tighter if at all possible. His mouth was by my ear as he whispered,

'_Come back with me. You can not stay here. You do not belong here. Come back.'_ I felt the darkness, the fire, and the voice all fade. Then I began to feel Spock leave me as well. I opened my eyes as Spock pulled his hand back. I felt myself trembling again and I gasped. Leo reached for me as I sat up gasping for breath.

"Easy there darlin'. Easy." He put his arms around me and tried to calm me down. "Easy there." I still trembled as I clung to him,

"Burn… burning in the darkness… there is no escape."


	5. Shared pain

Four men stood around my bed in Sick Bay. Jim, Spock, Leo, and Scotty. Jim sat down at the foot of my bed,

"Amaya, can you tell me what happened?" I had stopped trembling but I was still frightened. Spock put his hand on my arm and I could feel the calm and peaceful vibes he was trying to send me. I licked my lips and cleared my throat,

"I-I… It was dark… I was…" I felt Spock's grip on my arm tighten slightly,

"Captain, if I may, I performed a mind meld with her and therefore I am able to provide you part of the information you seek. I do not believe she is up to retelling all that has perspired." Jim stared at him before sighing,

"Alright, go ahead."

"When I was in her mind, it was dark. There was something there… in the darkness. I could not see it but I could… feel it. It spoke, it held a malicious tone. It said, 'You can not escape. Not for long. You will burn. Burn in the darkness.' Her mind screamed out to me and her body seemed to burn as though she were consumed in flame." Jim looked to me and I nodded then he looked back to Spock,

"Do you know what it is? Or what caused this?" He shook his head,

"No captain. I do not know how it began but I believe it began in engineering. That is where she was before she came to the bridge."

"Scotty, can you tell me what happened?" He shook his head,

"Not really, Keenser came and got me. Said somethin' was wrong with her."

"Was anything different about today? Anything that could've caused this? Did something malfunction?" He scoffed,

"Nothin' malfunctioned captain. All we did was update new programming but… oh no." Scotty ran a hand over his face and then put his head in his hands,

"Scotty, what is it? Scotty!" He looked up at me and I could see the pain in his eyes,

"The new cadet. He came in today. He was the only thing new. I-I ordered him in the same sector as Amaya… He knew what he was doin'… I didn't think nothin' of it. Oh Amaya… I'm so sorry lass." I shook my head at him,

"Fine, it's fine." My throat hurt and my voice came out horse,

"Scotty what was his name?" Jim looked to Scotty for an answer and Scotty still looked at me with tears in his eyes,

"Fallor, Gerard Fallor." Jim looked to Leo,

"She stays here. I want someone with her at all times. If he's after her I want to keep her as far away as possible from him. I want to know **why** he wants her. And what he's doing to her." Jim stood and looked at Scotty, "Scotty, you and I will head to engineering and if he's not there we'll do a sweep for him. Mr. Spock-"

"Captain, if I may, I would like to remain here in case I need to bring her out of her own mind." He nodded,

"Very well Mr. Spock. If anything happens I want you to report to me immediately."

"Yes captain." Just before Scotty and Jim left Spock spoke up,

"Captain, it will not stop until it has her. Until she burns." Leo gripped his tricorder tightly,

"Well that's not gonna happen. It won't take her." Jim nodded,

"We'll stop him Bones, Spock." Jim and Scotty left leaving me with Spock and Leo. Leo sat down at the end of my bed where Jim had once been,

"Spock, that mind meld you did, you said there was risk of you two being bonded. Well, I guess what I'm trying to ask is, are you two…bonded?" Spock shook his head,

"No, we have not bonded. Though a connection has been made making it easier for us to communicate through telepathy." He nodded before he placed his hand on my arm,

"It'll be okay kid. We won't let anything get you." I nodded my head and Leo let out a sigh, "Well, I hate to bring this up darlin' but, I really should check your back. I need to see if that bruise is still inflamed." My eyes widened slightly and I looked at Spock who sensed my worry,

"Amaya, it will be alright. But you must let the Doctor look at you." I shook my head,

"N-No, p-please. Leo, I don't want to. I can't." He looked at me for a moment as if thinking of something before he took hold of my hand and held it tightly,

'_Relax, he won't say anything. He wouldn't dare, I'd knock that green-blooded hobgoblin off his feet before he got one word out.'_ I gave him a small smile, "There's that infectious smile. Now, can I take a look?" I bit my lip and looked at Spock,

"Okay." Slowly I leaned forward and pulled up my shirt some revealing the ugly bruise, scars, and tattoo.

"Alright, now tell me if this hurts." He gently pressed his fingers against the bruise and I hissed, "I'll take that as a yes." He poked and prodded a bit more before pulling back, "Alright, you can sit back now. I put my shirt down and gently leaned back. "Well, it's still inflamed, but it looks a little better. I'm gonna give you something to help with the pain and the inflammation." He left to go prepare a couple of hypos. I looked down at my hands. I didn't dare look at Spock. I was ashamed. Leo returned and pumped me with two hypos. He glanced at me and then to Spock,

"Don't push her. If you need anything call me. I'll be over there if you need me." Silence fell and I felt a hand on my arm,

"Amaya…" I said nothing and didn't look at him, "Amaya, look at me…Amaya, please." The please was what caught my attention and I inadvertently looked up at him. I had never heard him use such a… human term. Unfortunately I looked straight into his eyes. His eyes bore into mine and he lifted his hand until it was right next to my face, barely ghosting my cheek,

"Please… I…" I didn't want to tell him. I know what it would look like to him. He is a Vulcan and he would find everything I did and all that I feel to be illogical and impractical. And I didn't want to hear him tell me that.

"I am your friend, I wish to help you." I raised my hand up and took Spock's hand in my own. At first I was dazed by the contact, my mind buzzed with the feeling of sharing a connection with another telepath.

'_I am afraid.'_

'_Of what?'_

'_I am afraid that… you will find my explanation full of emotional distress and illogical choices.'_

'_Amaya, I am half human. I am capable of understanding and overlooking such things to help a friend.' _

'_Very well." _And so I showed him. I showed him of the gangs in Ireland and of the tattoo's meaning and everything. And in the end he didn't call me illogical or impractical but rather sympathized with me in the abuse I faced for being a half breed. He even showed me some of his childhood and one memory specifically stood out to me. He was just a boy in school and there were three other boys were picking on him. I watched as they insulted his father calling him a traitor and then they called his mother a human whore. The young Spock launched himself at one of the boys and they fought. I saw the young Spock get his lip busted and then he began to wail on the older boy as tears streamed down his face. Then I saw a new memory, a more recent memory. This was the Spock I knew. I watched as he and his mother and father and elders of Vulcan run out onto the surface of the collapsing planet. I watched as his mother fell just as they were beamed aboard the ship. It faded a bit and then a new one came into my mind. Spock and Jim face to face as Jim began to chew Spock out about not loving his mother and being a computer. I watched as Spock let out a yell of anger and began to beat Jim. He punched him in the face before slamming his arm down on top of Jim. Then I watched him throw Jim across the room before punching him in the throat. He pinned Jim to the control panel, cutting off his air. His father called his name and Spock slowly let go of him. The memory faded and I was brought back to reality. My eyes were closed but I could feel the tears run down my cheeks. I felt Spock press his forehead against mine,

"I know the pain you felt. I understand the hurt you feel when they insult you. We are not so different, you and I. I showed those memories to you to show you that I too am capable of letting my emotions take hold of me. We are both half human, and we will always be at war with ourselves until we accept that fact. We cannot change who we are." I opened my eyes to see him staring back at me. He wiped my tears away with his thumb, "But we can change the way others view us."

"Thank you Spock. I know, you would not have shown those to me-"

" I believe the phrase is, "It's what friends do." I smiled at him and chuckled earning myself a small upturn of the corners of his mouth,

"Yes, that's the phrase. And you are right. It is what friends do. They go to one another if they have a problem or need to talk. I hope you can find that kind of trust in me."

"I believe I have. If I did not trust you I would not have shared those memories with you. Just as you shared yours with me." I smiled some more,

"Yes, I believe we are becoming even better friends Spock."

"Indeed." He pulled away just before Leo came back,

"Well I'm glad to see you smiling again. Though I don't know **how **the hobgoblin did it." I chuckled,

"Be nice Leo." He smirked at me before sitting down again at the end of bed,

"Jim contacted me, he said they didn't find him in engineering. They're going to scan the rest of the ship and put guards on every floor." I gave him a sad smile,

"Leo, Death does not wish to be evaded. My father had many enemies, I'm sure some would seek their revenge through me." Spock nodded in agreement with me,

"She makes a valid point. I will call the captain." He walked out of the room leaving me with Leo,

"You and Spock seem to be getting close." I rolled my eyes,

"Leo-"

"Do I need to have a talk with you two?"

"Leo! No, you don't. We're just friends. We can help each other. Leo, we're both half human and half something else. We've both faced challenges because of this. He can help me control my emotions and I can be an outlet for his emotions. You, however, seem to be like an overprotective over concerned older brother." He scoffed at me,

"Well someone has to look out for you on this ship, why not me? Besides, this means I get to mess with someone." I laughed. Spock walked back in,

"The captain has informed me that they have not yet found Cadet Fallor. He says you are to remain here in Sick Bay for a few days so Doctor McCoy may observe you and record your progress. When you feel well again you may resume your work and live in your own quarters but you will have someone with you at all times." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair,

"Alright. Well, Leo I guess you're stuck with me." He chuckled,

"If you feel up to it, maybe I'll allow you to help out around here." I smiled,

"That sounds good to me." Spock looked to me,

"The Captain has requested my presences on the bridge. I shall leave you in the company of the Doctor. There are two guards outside of Sick Bay."

"Thank you Spock." He nodded,

"I shall take my leave then." He left and Leo chuckled again and shook my head,

"Well kid, I guess you'll have to hang around here for the next few days. How about I get us some lunch?"

"Why Doctor, are you actually offering some bedside manner?" He rolled his eyes,

"Don't push it kid." I laughed as he went over to a replicator and began to press buttons. Maybe this will pass. Maybe it'll go away. It was a vain hope, but hope none the less.


	6. Dance with me

For the next few days I remained in Sick Bay I was visited by Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, and even Keenser. Jim, Scotty, and Spock came to see me every day when they had a chance. And Leo was stuck with me for most of the day. He observed me for a while and allowed me to help in Sick Bay when he believed me to be well enough to help. Spock came to the Sick Bay every morning before his shift started and every night after it ended to talk with me. We tried to talk using our connection only at times but found that we were drawn to touch to speak instead. We knew it was a risk; we could be bonded to one another. And yet we did not mind. Our connection grew stronger, I could at times hear him talking to me from the bridge or the mess hall. Our empathetic bond grew as well. We could transfer emotion from one to another from greater distances, and they were more potent as well. I could feel his emotions at times even when he didn't want me to. I realized how deep his emotions were, and just how much he struggled with them. I didn't mind being his outlet just as he didn't mind being mine. It was currently my fifth day in Sick Bay and I was giving one of the ensigns an injection for a rash when Jim walked in.

"I'll be with you in a moment Jim."

"Now ensign, you come back in two days so Doctor McCoy can check your progress." He nodded his head and murmured a thank you before walking out. Jim strolled over to me,

"Where's Bones?"

"He went to talk to Scotty about me possibly being allowed to work again. With the armed guard of course." He chuckled a bit before leaning on a counter in front of me,

"We're still looking, Amaya. I've swept every deck, every corridor, and every sector. Where ever he is, he's hiding. And he's doing it very well."

"Jim, there was one enemy of my father who thrived in hate and anger, I vaguely remember his name. Margoth. I wouldn't have even remembered that much if it wasn't for the conversation Spock and I had yesterday."

"Do you remember anything else about him? Anything at all?" I shook my head. He sighed then raised an eyebrow at me with a smirk, "You and Spock, have, ah, been spending a lot of time together haven't you?" I shook my head with a smiled,

"Jim, what is it you're implying?"

"Nothing, just that I haven't seen my first officer so… relaxed in… well, ever!" I laughed,

"I think you try his patience and his nerves on purpose." He smirked at me,

"Well, occasionally maybe. But you know, I think…" He moved closer to me and looked around before leaning forward and whispering, "I think he has a soft spot for you. And it's growing more and more every day." He walked away and laughed, "I think you'll be good for our Vulcan friend." And with that he walked out. I laughed as he walked away. I sat down on the biobed and swung my legs on the side. I was bored, there was no one in the Sick Bay except for the guards outside. I felt a buzzing in my head and smiled,

'_Hello Spock.'_

'_Good afternoon Amaya. Are you feeling better than you did this morning?'_

'_Yes I am. Thank you for asking. Where are we headed to now?'_

'_We are headed to the Gama quadrant. From there we shall continue our journey into the unknown.'_

'_Leo, is looking into me able to go back to work.'_

'_Is that wise?'_

'_I'll have the armed guards with me of course. And I'll have Keenser and Scotty with me as well.' _I felt his worry increase some, _'Don't worry Spock. I'll be alright. Besides I'm sure you'll come running to my aid if anything should happen.' _I laughed at the image I sent of him as a knight in shinning armor,

'_This is a human thing is it not?'_

'_Yes Spock, I'll explain it to you some time if you like.'_

'_I would like that very much. I shall be down after my shift ends as usual.'_

'_I'll be waiting, as usual.' _I don't know how but I knew he was smirking at me. I was alone again and so I decided to clean Leo's office. About and hour later Leo returned, "I was beginning to think that you abandoned me." He laughed,

"Well I have an update for you darlin'. You are going back to work tomorrow." I grinned and gave him a big hug,

"Thank you!"

"You'll have the guards of course."

"Of course." He gave me a push,

"Don't get smart. Uhura has offered to spend the night with you, and the guards will be outside your door. Don't do anything to annoy them and behave. This is your-"

"**Yes** father." He pushed me and I laughed. He walked into his office and there was a pause before he shouted, "AMAYA!" He stormed back out with a scowl on his face, "What did you do to my office?"

"Nothing, just a bit of cleaning." He cursed,

"It was fine the way it was!"

"It was a mess."

"It was an organized mess!"

"How could you find anything, there were piles of PADD's, garbage, and empty shot glasses everywhere." He grumbled and I rolled my eyes again. I pulled his arm and dragged him into his office. "All your PADD's are organized by how important the case is. Your shot glasses are cleaned and put in your cabinet along with the bottle of whiskey I found. See it's not that bad." He grumbled a bit,

"Alright, alright. I see your point." I laughed as I walked out and sat down on the biobed again. I grabbed my communicator,

"Amaya to Scotty." There was a pause before my communicator chirped,

"Scotty here, how ya doin' lass?"

"I'm alright. I'm itchin' to get back to work. Ya miss me yet?"

"Aye, I miss that sweet Irish accent. Tomorrow ya'll stick with me. There's a warp drive with your name on it." I grinned,

"I look forward to it Scotty. You comin' up to see me soon?"

"Aye, I'll be up. I'll bring Keenser with me too. Listen lassie, I've got to go. I'll be up soon."

"Bye Scotty." I lied down and stared at the celling. Leo chuckled at me,

"You're bored aren't you?"

"Very. Everyone's busy." He scoffed,

"Am I nobody?"

"Leo you know what I mean."

"Have you tried sleeping?" I shook my head,

"I don't want to sleep." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before sitting down next to me,

"You haven't been sleeping." I opened my mouth but he cut me off, "Don't even try to deny it. I've spoken to the guards. It's this whole mess isn't it?" I nodded my head,

"I'm afraid, afraid to sleep. Afraid that I'll be in the dark with the voice and the fire. I'm afraid of what might happen to my friends. I don't want to see any of you hurt." He pulled me to him and held me tight,

"Oh darlin' you don't need to worry about that. Nothing's gonna happen to you or us. I'll fight tooth and nail for you." He chuckled, "As will Spock I'm sure." I chuckled,

"You're implying something I'm sure." He laughed,

"Of course I am! You and the hobgoblin have been very close lately. And don't think I don't see that smile grow more whenever he shows up."

"You read too much into it." I ducked my head to try and hide the light blush that I was sure was covering my cheeks. He leaned down next to my ear,

"You're lyin'."I shoved him a bit,

"Why I do believe you doubt my integrity as an honest woman Doctor." I used the best old southern belle voice I could. He let out a hearty laugh,

"Why ma'm I do believe I owe you an apology." He let his southern twang accent his voice,

"Why thank you." He stood and held out his hand,

"Would a dance suffice as an apology?" I laughed,

"I believe it would." I took his hand and he pulled me up,

"I'll teach you one from my home town." I grinned,

"Why thank you." I don't know how long we danced but the time was spent laughing and simply enjoying ourselves. Granted I stepped on his feet a few times but he didn't seem to mind so much. I could feel something, a feeling, I couldn't quite pin point it but it felt… like envy. It was a fleeting feeling, it came and went in a matter of seconds.

"Are we interrupting anything?" Leo and I stopped dancing and looked up to see Jim and Spock at the entrance of the Sick Bay. We laughed and Leo threw his arm around my shoulder.

"No, Leo was just teaching me how to dance."

"Something from my home town. She was bored and I needed to give her something to do or else she'd clean and organize my whole Sick Bay. Should see what she did my office!" Jim laughed,

"Well, I came down here to take Bones to Rec Room seven for a poker game. His money is needed as well as his skill. And Spock here is going to keep you company." Leo bowed and kissed my hand,

"Then I leave you darlin' in the capable hands of the hob-"I stepped on his foot and he cursed, "I leave you in the capable hands of Spock." I nodded my head before I shoved him to Jim.

"Go, have fun. And tell Scotty he's late in coming to see me." They laughed as they headed out the door. I turned to Spock, he was masking his emotions from me,

"Spock? Is something wrong?" He moved closer to me,

"No, there is nothing wrong." I raised my hand and let it hover over his heart, just below the right side of his chest.

"You've never masked your emotions from me before. Have I done something wrong?" He shook his head before taking hold of my hand,

'_You remind me of my mother. You move just as she did. She enjoyed dancing.'_ I knew he was avoiding the question so I didn't push it,

'_Did you ever dance with her?' _A sad look crossed his face,

'_No, though now… now I wish I had. There are many human enjoyments of hers that I wish I had partaken in with her.' _I gave him a small smile,

'_Would you like me to teach you the dance Leo taught me?'_ He paused before nodding his head. I showed him where to place his feet and hands and showed him the beginning steps, _'I must warn you now, I am not a very good dancer.' _A small smirk crossed his face,

'_Nor I.'_ After a few more minutes we were moving in a slow and steady rhythm. It was a strange feeling, dancing with Spock. I felt the buzz from our telepathic connection and our empathetic connection. I felt his mask slip and I felt contentment seep into my heart. Pure and utter contentment. He was relaxed and so was I.

'_Do you enjoy this? Dancing I mean?'_

'_Though it holds no meaningful effect on the progress of development, I find it…'_ I smiled,

'_Enjoyable?'_ He nodded,

'_Quite.'_ I lifted my head and stared into those brown… human eyes of his. _'May I ask, why you have not been sleeping?'_ I sighed and looked down at our feet. We stopped dancing and his hand that held mine let go and was placed under my chin making me look back into his eyes. He opened his mouth and whispered, "You are afraid." I nodded my head,

"I'm afraid of drifting back into the darkness. I don't want to go back."

"You have not slept in five days, you must rest." I shook my head,

"No, please, I don't want to." He paused for a moment,

"What if I were to remain here with you while slept? Our connection both telepathic and empathetic would alert me to any disturbances in your sleep." I chewed my lip,

"I don't know Spock…" He led me over to a biobed and I sat down, "Tell me about your mother." He gently pushed me down onto the bed before pulling a blanket over me. Then he sat down next to me and took hold of my hand again,

'_What do you wish to know?'_

'_Anything, everything. What was she like?'_

'_She was…beautiful. She cared deeply. She loved my father even though he was a Vulcan. Even though he had far more control of his emotions and hardly even shared them in the privacy of out home. She still loved him.'_

'_Vulcan's are not without emotion Spock. You have emotions, so you must have been meant to feel some at least. Your mother reminded your father of that.' _

'_Again, you remind me so much of her. What you said, reminds me of something my mother would say.'_ I smiled at him and gripped his hand a bit, _'She loved to watch the sun set on Vulcan, even though the temperature was far too warm for her. She told me once that no matter where I was in the galaxy that if I would watch the sun set she would be watching as well. I told her that it was illogical for us to be watching the same sunset if I were on another planet. Now though I understand its meaning.'_

'_That she'd always be thinking of you. And that she'd always be with you.' _ He nodded and continued to tell me of his mother and the things that she would say or do. All the "illogical" and "impractical" things she would do. And with Spock's calm aura I slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep, all the while holding on to Spock's hand.


	7. Back to work

When I woke the next morning I found that Spock was still beside me. His eyes were shut and his breathing was deep. I wasn't sure if he was meditating or asleep. I rolled onto my back and saw Leo filling up a hypo,

"I hope that's not for me." He jumped and whipped around toward me and cursed,

"Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people?" I chuckled at him as he came closer. He nodded toward Spock,

"He's been there all night."

"Was he awake when you came back?" He shook his head,

"Scotty stopped by to talk to you but when he came back to the game he said you both were asleep. I couldn't believe it so I came back to see for myself. Sure enough you were both asleep." A smirk appeared on his lips,

"What?"

"You and the hobgoblin were holding hands. Care to explain?"

"He told me I needed to rest but I told him I was afraid to. He promised to stay with me and wake me if I started to slip. He was telling me about his mother." A slight frown appeared on his face,

"You two have been doing that a lot lately. Holding hands I mean. You know what could happen right?" I nodded,

"Yes I know, and so does he. But… I don't know. I wouldn't really mind. We have a lot in common, and yet we're so different as well." He placed his hand on my shoulder,

"I may have my quarrels with him but he does seem to really care about you. He asks about you a lot. Wondering how you're doing and such. He's also devoted a lot of time looking for Fallor. I wouldn't be surprised if he called Scotty while you're working." I looked at the sleeping Vulcan and smiled,

"What time is it?"

"About 0600. Another hour until breakfast." I nodded,

"Thanks Leo." He smirked at me,

"No problem darlin'." He walked away to stick some poor sucker with that hypo leaving me alone with the still asleep Spock. I bit my lip, I knew I shouldn't wake him but I wanted him to be awake. He must have sensed this because a second later he was awake. Blinking at me,

"Did you sleep well?"

"I did, thank you. I had no dreams." He nodded his head with a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth,

"I am pleased then that I was able to help."

"It's about an hour until breakfast, and then I get to head back to engineering. With the guards of course."

"You should be exceptionally vigilant. I will talk to the captain and see about having extra guards placed in engineering."

"If you think it would be necessary." He nodded,

"Indeed I do." I pursed my lips for a moment,

"Would it be possible to head to the Rec Room before breakfast? I'd like to have another try at chess with you." He hesitated,

"I do believe we have time for a match." We stood up and told Leo where we were going and let before he could say anything. I felt a little odd walking down the corridors. Not because of Spock but because of the two guards who followed us. When we got the Rec Room there was nobody there leaving us the whole room. We sat down at one of the chess boards and began. No words were spoken because we didn't need to use our voices to speak. We carried on a simple, as simple as Spock would allow, conversation and again I lost to Spock. Three times to be exact. I laughed as we headed to breakfast,

"I can't win against you can I?"

"You are fairing much better than our last match. Your skill has improved."

"Thank you." We walked into the mess hall and I got replicated oatmeal with apples and cinnamon. It lacked in real taste but it was still better than nothing. We sat down with Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura.

"Amaya! It is wonderful to see you."

"Thank you Chekov, I've missed you all. And Sulu you and I must have a rematch when all this is over." He grinned at me,

"I look forward to it." I looked to Uhura next,

"Thank you for offering to stay with me tonight." She smiled gently at me,

"No problem. We'll get to have some time just for us women. No men allowed." She gave the three men at the table a pointed look. I laughed,

"That sounds like a wonderful idea Uhura."

"Yes, and you three can tell Scotty, McCoy, and Kirk that as well." We laughed. It was refreshing to eat with my friends again, and to have a real conversation with people again. I was relaxing for the first time in six days. When breakfast was over we parted ways. The guards and I went to the turbo lift and down to engineering where four more guards were waiting as well as Scotty.

"Lass, welcome back." I grinned,

"Let's get to work Scotty." I stuck with Scotty and Keenser was always near by, usually up in a high place looking for Fallor. We worked happily through the day even through lunch. We lost track of time until Leo came down to get me for dinner,

"Scotty, she needs to eat. You both do. Besides Uhura is waiting for her. Apparently none of us men are allowed to bother them tonight."

"Ah, sort of like a hen do. Only no one's getting' married." Leo gave him a questioning look and so I elaborated,

"A hen do is the British version of a bachelorette party."

"Oh, well, I guess that makes sense. Anyway, it's time to call it quits for the day. Amaya, dinner will be brought to you and Uhura in your quarters." I chuckled,

"I'll be seein' ya Scotty."

"Alright lassie, have a good night." Leo, the guards, and I went to the lift. They escorted me to my room and I punched in the code,

"Gonna tell me what the name is darlin'?" I smirked at him,

"Nope, again figure it out on your own." He scowled at me.

"Go on, Uhura's waiting inside." I grinned at him before going into my room.

"There you are!" She grinned and pulled me over to the bed making me sit down as she ran over to the couch. She picked up a bag and brought it over to me, "After we eat dinner I thought we could paint our nails and watch holomovies. Oh, and in the morning we could give each other makeovers!" I bit my lip,

"I've… never, um, I've never had a makeover." Her mouth hung open as her eyes widened,

"NEVER?!" I shook my head,

"I've painted my nails before but I've never… worn makeup before." She gave me a sly smile,

"Well, then I shall have to teach you. Every man will fall flat on his face when they see you. Especially a certain Vulcan." I raised an eyebrow at her,

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" She smirked at me,

"I am." She suddenly became very serious, "He likes you. I'm sure you've heard about how the two of us dated for a while." I nodded my head, unsure of where this was going, "Then I want you to know that it was nothing serious. Nothing intimate. He is very attracted to you. Not like he was to me. You two have a… deeper connection." She smiled at me, "I'm happy for you. Both of you. I think of you as a friend, and I would hope that you would consider me a friend as well." I grinned at her before throwing my arms around her in a hug,

"I think we can be very good friends." We laughed,

"Good, then I want you to call me Nyota." A yeoman brought us dinner and we ate it quickly before starting on our nails. We told each other stories about our lives, we laughed and cried. I painted Nyota's nails red with a gold pattern on it. She painted mine a dark blue before painting a silver design on it. We stayed up late into the night watching holomovies until the next morning. We got up early. We were tired but excited as well. I had never worn makeup and I was interested to see what the other's thought of my makeover. Nyota made my lips a dark red and painted my eyes with a smoky eye shadow. She did a few other things but I had no clue what they were. Then she moved onto my hair. She made the curls softer than normal and pinned some of them back with a silver gemmed pin. My dark brown hair seemed to flow down my back. I thought it was nice. I could never do it myself but it was a nice change. She grinned at me, "Spock, is going to fall head over heels. His green blood is going to boil at the sight of you." I blushed and bit my lip,

"Nyota-"

"Amaya, don't even **try** to tell me you don't like him. You may not even have admitted it yourself but I know that you like him and that he likes you." My door chimed letting me know my escort for the day was here to pick me up. Nyota grinned, "Now let's go. I want to see his face when he sees you." I opened the door and Jim stepped in. Immediately his mouth dropped open,

"Amaya?" I nodded and he still stood there slack jawed,

"Well don't just stare at her! Say something!" Uhura pushed him a bit and he snapped out of it,

"Wow, Amaya, you look beautiful! Wow." I blushed,

"Thanks Jim." He stood straight and offered me his one of his arms and offered the other to Nyota,

"It would be an honor to escort two lovely ladies to breakfast." We rolled our eyes but took his arms anyway. As we walked down the hall the people I recognized stared at us. When we entered the mess hall we got our food and sat down with Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov. All three stared at me.

"Lass, is that you?" I shot him a look,

"Shut your trap Scotty." Sulu laughed,

"Yup, that's Amaya." Chekov smiled at me,

"You look very beautiful." His accent made it sound so adorable,

"Thanks Chekov."

"You do look lovely lassie. I only hope that I can keep the boys in engineering away." I laughed,

"I'm sure you can do it Scotty." Uhura nudged me before whispering in my ear,

"Here comes McCoy and Spock." I didn't turn around. Instead I stared down at the table. McCoy dropped his try on the table right beside me. And Spock sat down across from me.

"Mornin' all. Darlin' how was- what the…" I felt his hand underneath my chin and slowly he tilted my head up until I was eye level with him. "Amaya… are you wearing… make up?" I nodded. Worry built in my chest and Nyota placed a hand on my arm,

"What do you think McCoy?" He glanced at her before looking back to me,

"I think… you look very beautiful. Gorgeous even. It was hard enough to beat away the men before. Now you make it almost impossible!" I laughed as he pulled me close and kissed my temple.

"Spock what do you think of Amaya's new look?" Nyota gave me a small smirk before turning towards Spock again. I looked at Spock who simply stared at me,

"You look-"

"ALL STATIONS RED ALERT! CAPTAIN KIRK AND REPORT TO THE BRIDGE IMMEDIETLY." Every one jumped into action. Just as I was about to run out of the mess and down to engineering I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me back. It was Spock,

"You look… lovely. The Doctor was correct in saying you look beautiful." I blushed profusely and looked down to the floor.

"Thank you Spock."

"Amaya, look at me." I did and saw a deep concern in his eyes, "Go to Sick Bay."

"But-"

"It will be easier for you to be looked after if you are in Sick Bay." I didn't say anything. I wanted to go to engineering, "Please… for me?" My eyes shot up to him. He surprised me again with such a… human response. Especially since he actually spoke it out loud and not through our telepathic connection. I bit my lip slightly and his eyes darted to my lips for just a second.

"Very well. I'll go to the Sick Bay." He nodded his head before we parted ways. I ran to the turbo lift and so did the guards, "Shouldn't you be going to your positions?"

"No ma'm. You are our primary objective until further orders from Captain Kirk." I rolled my eyes,

"Stubborn man." When the lift stopped I ran to Sick Bay, "Leo!" He came out of his office with several PADD's in his hand,

"What are you doing here?"

"Spock asked me to come here." He nodded his head,

"Alright, get ready. We're being attacked by Klingons. There'll be plenty of wounded." The fight lasted for a long time. At least it felt like a long time. There was a constant stream of wounded coming in and I was beginning to feel very run down. When the battle was over I washed my face off and made my way back to my quarters. When I reached my quarters I realized I left the guards in Sick Bay. I yawned. I'll contact them after I rest a bit. I had just spent the last three hours patching people up. I lied down and eventually I shut my eyes. I was deep in sleep when I felt something. It was close, something closing in around me.

"AMAYA!" I gasped and shot up in bed,

"What?!" I looked around the room until my eyes landed on Leo, "Leo?" He had a scared and relieved look on his face, but anger rolled off of him ways,

"Oh thank God you're here. Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He sat down in front of me and took hold of me by the arms,

"I'm fine. I'm alright."

"Good, now what the **hell** is wrong with you?!"

"What?"

"You left without the guards! Nobody had any idea where you were! We thought Fallor had got you. I was terrified that something had happened to you." His eyes softened and his grip loosened. "You had us all frightened. We thought the worse had happened." I took hold of his hand and squeezed it.

"I'm **alright** Leo." He gave me a weak smile,

"Well, I'm going to go call off the search, the guards are outside. I'll let you rest again." He started to walk away,

"Wait!" He whipped around,

"What?" I bit my lip and looked around my dim room,

"I… can I come with you?" He furrowed his brow,

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"I just… I don't feel comfortable in my room. I just… feel like I'm not alone." He gave me an alarmed look before quickly crossing the room again and pulling me up from the bed,

"Yeah, come on." He glanced around my room, "We'll get someone to search your room. I left my room with Leo's arm wrapped tightly around me. Little did I know that there really was something in my room. Something lurking in the dark. With a fire in its eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hey everyone, thank you to all who have been reading my story. I hope you all enjoy it. I do ask however to please review. It really motivates me to update faster if I get more reviews than I put up chapters. Like now I have 7 reviews and 7 chapters. Please review, I love to hear what you all think of my story.

He HH


	8. Time to Burn

First off I must say thank you to those of you who reviewed. It really does mean a lot to me know what you all think of my work. It made me want to write more sooner and so I did. This is my longest chapter yet, I made it especially long to convey my gratitude. Please keep reviewing. Enjoy the next chapter.

Leo called off the search and we met up with the others in the hall. Uhura was the first to see me. She ran up to me and threw her arms around my neck. Relief flooded my senses,

"Don't you **ever** do that to me again." She whispered to me, "Spock was extremely worried." She pulled away and I was engulfed in a group hug from Chekov and Sulu,

"We were so worried."

"You scared us so much!" I chuckled and hugged them back,

"Guys I'm alright. Really I am." They let go and Scotty wept me up spinning my around,

"Lassie, don't ya ever do that again! Ya hear!" I laughed,

"Scotty put me down!" He did and Jim took me away from him. He held me at arms length and made me look him square in the eye,

"I'm going to put a tracker on you, and I'm going to have you monitored all the time." He stared at me for a moment, "God you scared me." Then he pulled me into a bone crushing hug. Again relief flooded my senses. He pulled back and looked at Spock. There was a turmoil of emotions raging through him and this time he could not control them. Jim glanced at me then to Spock, "Uhura, Chekov, Sulu head back to your stations. Bones I need to talk to you. Spock, stay with Amaya. Do not let her out of your sight until I say otherwise." Everyone departed leaving me and Spock alone,

"I-" He didn't have a chance to finish before I threw my arms around his neck. He tensed only for a second before wrapping his arms tightly around me,

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "I know I caused you grief and worry. For that I am so sorry." He held me tighter if possible,

"Why did you not wait for the guards?" His voice was soft,

"I was so tired that I forgot about them and walked off without them. When I finally realized that I'd left them behind I was already in bed and I just fell asleep." I buried my head into his shoulder,

"I'm sorry Spock." He whispered into my hair,

"I wish for no harm to come to you." I felt tears sting my eyes,

"Spock, I'm afraid to stay in my own quarters. I felt as though there was something there in my room, with me. I don't want to go back there."

"You will not have to if you do not wish to." He pulled away and took hold of my hand,

'_Stay with Nyota tonight. Tomorrow you can resume your duties in engineering. I am sure Mr. Scott has an abundance of work for you from our run in with the Klingons.'_

'_I'm sure he does.'_ We began walking down the corridor,

'_Doctor McCoy will inject the tracking device into your neck. It will be less painful that way.'_

'_Is that where we are headed now?' _He nodded his head. We continued to walk in silence but my mind buzzed with questions. I hadn't expected so much emotion from Spock, nor did I expect him to hug me back, and now he was holding my hand in public. I'm assuming it is only because of what's happened. I'm sure tomorrow will be different. He's probably just in shock at the moment. Like if he lets go of me I might disappear again. I rationalized it all in my head and came up with logical reasons as to why he did all the things that he had done.

When we arrived at Sick Bay both Leo and Jim were waiting for me. Spock let go of my hand and I hopped up on the biobed. Leo pulled out a hypo and rubbed something on my neck,

"This is gonna hurt a bit." He injected the tracker into my neck and I let out a small hiss,

"There, now you'll be in the computers system." Jim stepped in front of me now,

"Bones told me what you told him when he found him. Your quarters will be searched and from now on I want you to check in with the bridge every four hours." I really thought it was too much but I knew I couldn't persuade them otherwise,

"I promise to check in. I'll probably stay with Nyota tonight, if that's alright?" Jim smirked at me,

"Already asked her. She's expecting you." I gave him a small smile and nodded,

"Spock, escort Amaya to Nyota's if you will." He nodded his head to Jim and Leo before we left,

'_If you require my assistance at all-'_

'_I'll let you know through this link.'_

'_Amaya, I urge you to be extremely cautious. Do not underestimate your instincts. If something feels wrong than let someone know.'_ We stopped right outside Nyota's door,

'_I promise Spock.'_ I quickly hugged him, which he returned, then headed into Nyota's quarters.

"There you are. The guards will be here soon. Another yeomen will bring us dinner." I sat down on Nyota's bed right next to her,

"Good, I'm hungry. And I'm tired as well." She smiled at me,

"I'm just happy you're alright. So did Spock ever say anything about your makeover?" I glanced at her and nodded trying to hide the smile that was forcing its way onto my lips. She squealed,

"What did he say! What did he say!" I laughed at her eagerness,

"He said I looked lovely."

"Aw, that's so sweet." I laughed, this was a very new thing for me. I had never had a girl friend who I could talk about boys or anything to. I had already told her about the scars and tattoo and she told me about her past as well. It was nice to have a girl who could relate to how I feel. "You should've seen him when Doctor McCoy was looking for you in Sick Bay. McCoy shouted at the guards and had one of them by the collar. When McCoy got to the bridge and told us you were missing without the guards I thought Spock was going to tear the ship apart." I blushed a bit,

"He's just a friend. Nothing more." She scoffed at me,

"Don't even, you like him and he likes you. There is no getting around it. You two just need to accept that." I smiled at her. The yeomen showed up and we ate dinner before falling asleep talking. The next morning we woke up and got ready. I had just pulled my hair into a pony tail so it would stay out of my face in engineering when Scotty showed up to take me to work.

"I'll see you later Nyota." Scotty and I walked down to the lift and then headed toward engineering. The next two weeks went like this. Nytoa and I grew very close during this time and Spock and Leo would still make it a point to see me. There had been no sign of Fallor and I had not had a nightmare or a bad feeling in a while. Things seemed to be going back to normal. I had managed to talk Jim into decreasing the guards and I was hoping that maybe Fallor or Margoth had left.

I was in engineering laughing with Scotty about a story he told me that involved his cousin and a woman he met at local pub,

"She says to him, 'You got me sister pregnant and ya got the gall to ask me to have a drink with ya?'" I laughed,

"What did he say?"

"He said, 'Aye lass I do, cos you're the most radiant woman I ever laid eyes on.' She looked at him, smiled then took his beer out of his hand and took a swig of it saying, 'Alright lad, ya got one shot. But don't expect me to be as easy as my sister.' A few weeks later, she called him up and told him she was pregnant." I laughed,

"She was a brilliant one wasn't she." He laughed,

"He hightailed it to England as fast as he could." We continued laughing as we wiped the grease off on our clothes. I was sure I had smudges on my face but I didn't care. As we were laughing Keenser came scurrying down one of the beams. He was shouting at us,

"He's here! You need to run!" Our laughter died down some,

"Who's here?"

"Fallor! He's here! He knocked the guards out in one swing. He's headed this way!" Fear escalated in me. Scotty stood and pulled me up,

"Lass you need to get out of here. Run. Run to the lift and head to the bridge. Keenser and I will hold him off."

"Scotty you can't he'll-"

"I'm not askin' for ya permission. Now go!" He shoved me down the hall just as Fallor came into view. I ran as fast as my legs could take me. I could here the scuffle behind me. I heard the distinct cry of Keenser then Scotty's voice,

"Oi! Leave her alone!" I glanced behind me to see Fallor take Scotty by the collar of his shirt and throw him against one of the consoles. I ran faster if possible. I ran down halls and made a sharp left. The lift was in view. Relief filled me at the sight of it. But it was cut short when I felt a hand pull me back by my shirt. I was tossed backwards and hit my head on the wall behind me. I sat there dazed as Fallor came closer. My eyes focused as he towered over me. His eyes were filled with hate. He let out a laugh, an evil one. One that I had heard in my sleep. Before I knew it he had me up and pinned to the wall by my throat. His hand tightened around my throat. It burned my flesh and I could feel his anger and hate,

"You will burn. Burn in the darkness. Burn for what has been done." I tried to say something but I couldn't. He was crushing my throat.

'_Spock… Spock…I need…help.'_ He took his other hand and traced my face with it. His fingers burned my cheek. Tears spilled over and I was beginning to lose consciousness.

"Burn in the dark." The pain was terrible and I was afraid. Just as I was about to lose complete consciousness I was released. I slumped to the floor. I didn't even have the energy to cough. I saw Spock standing over a fallen Fallor. Fallor's nose was bleeding but his eyes were burning. I barely saw Spock advance on him before I passed out.

My head was pounding and my throat hurt so much. I opened my eyes slowly but found everything out of focus. I was moving. I looked to my left a little and saw I was being carried by Leo. I tried to speak but I couldn't. I slipped back into unconsciousness. When I woke again I heard shouting and when I opened my eyes I found everything to be still unfocused. Leo was covered in blood and so was the nurse. Leo was the source of the shouting. I couldn't make out all he was saying but I caught one thing before I passed out,

"Stay with me Amaya. Stay with me." I was surrounded by darkness but it was warm and comfortable. I curled into it and fell into a deeper slumber. One that I did not want to come out of. I don't know how long I was asleep but I felt something trying to pull me out of my sleep. I didn't want to go though. It was so warm. And yet the pull was stronger. Slowly I opened my eyes. It took my eyes a while to adjust but eventually I saw that I was still in Sick Bay, and that I wasn't alone. I saw Leo, Nyota, Scotty, and Spock all asleep next to me. Scotty had a large bandage wrapped around his head as well as a few cuts on his face. Nyota's eyes looked puffy and her face had tear tracks on it. Leo looked as though he'd been through hell and back. His clothes were disheveled, he was unshaven, and he reeked of whiskey. When I looked at Spock my heart almost broke. He looked terrible as well. He had bandages around his hands and he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. I tried to speak but found I couldn't. My throat hurt terribly. I opened my mouth to try again and nothing. It was then I noticed that my hand was being gripped tightly be Spock's. Gently I ran my thumb across the back of his hand. His eyes fluttered open. He looked confused for a moment before he quickly leaned forward,

"Amaya…" his voice was a whisper but there was an immense amount of emotion in it. "Doctor. Doctor McCoy." He woke Leo and the others. They all shot up when they noticed I was awake. He grabbed his tricorder and scanned me with it.

"How do you feel?" I opened my mouth and grasped at my throat which was covered in bandages. He sighed, "I was afraid of that. Your vocal chords have been damaged. It's repairable but you'll need to have vocal lessons to be able to grasp the full use of your voice again." I opened my mouth to try and say something again but nothing came out. I looked to Spock and held my hand out to him again. He took hold of it,

'_What happened?'_ Spock looked at Leo,

"She wishes to know what transpired." Leo grabbed another bandage, a cream, and a hypo.

"Fallor attacked you. Don't you remember?" I shook my head yes, "I don't know how but his hands quite literally burned your flesh. You had minor burn marks on your face, those were easily erased. But you had severe burns on your neck. To the point where they bled. They'll take much longer to heal." I nodded my head before turning to Spock,

'_What happened to Fallor?'_ Spock stared at me for a moment before speaking,

"She wishes to know what happened to Fallor." Leo looked at Spock before turning to me again,

"He was… detained. We have him in the brig with at least several guards. He won't escape." I felt like there was more that he wanted to tell me but I didn't ask,

'_What happens now?'_

"She wishes to know what happens now." Leo placed a hand on my shoulder,

"I'll call the captain. You'll stay here for the night. Tomorrow you can move back into your quarters as long as someone stays with you in case you need help. We'll begin your vocal lessons shortly after." I nodded my head. He rubbed his eyes, "I'll go call the captain." He left and Scotty and Nyota took his place. Spock let go of my hand reluctantly. I took hold of Scotty's,

'_Your head. What happened?' _He laughed,

"Just a bump on the head. Nothin' serious." I touched his head,

'_I'm sorry, this was meant for me not for you.'_

"Lass, it was my privilege to fight for ya." He kissed my head, "I should head back to engineering. I've got to help clean up the mess that wretched man made."

'_Keenser, is Keenser alright? I heard him scream. I-'_

"Easy lass, he's alright. He's got a few burns but nothin' bad." I nodded my head and he left. Nyota took hold of my hand,

'_Nyota-'_

'_You and I have a __**lot**__ to talk about later.'_ I nodded my head and she smiled at me before brushing her hand through my hair, "I'll come back for you tomorrow. I'll stay with you." I nodded my head and she left. Leaving Spock and I alone. I took hold of his hand,

'_I saw you, when I was on the ground, you were the reason why he let me go wasn't it?'_ He nodded,

'_I felt your fear and I heard you call me.'_

'_What happened to your hands?'_ I pulled his hand up to show him what I meant,

'_It is nothing. A few scratches. Nothing more.'_

'_Spock, thank you. For saving me. I owe you a lot.' _He placed his other hand onto of mine holding my hand in both of his,

'_I was not about to let you be harmed. I promised to keep you from harm.' _He took one of his hands and gently touched my throat, _'I failed, and for that I am sorry.'_ I shook my head,

'_No, it was not your fault. Please, don't blame yourself. I couldn't bare it if you thought that any of this was your fault.'_ He pulled my hand up to his lips, ghosting my knuckles. Leo came back with Jim.

"It's good to see you awake, Amaya." Spock let go of my hand and I held it out to Jim. He took it,

'_It is good to be awake.'_

"Bones told me about your condition. And I've come to tell you about what we're going to do to Fallor. We'll interrogate him then we'll materialize him into space and scatter his atoms." I nodded my head,

'_May I… may I see him?'_ He hesitated,

"I don't think that's a wise idea."

"What does she want to do?" Jim looked at Leo then back to me before letting out a sigh,

"She wants to see him. She wants to see Fallor."

"Jim she can't, I won't let her. I don't think her body can take the stress."

'_How long was I out?'_

"You were out for almost four days."

"Which is exactly why she shouldn't see him! She's only just woke up. She needs her rest."

'_Please. I need to. I need to know for sure if he's Margoth.'_ He sighed,

"I'll go with you."

"Jim you can't be serious."

"Captain I must protest-"

"Spock, I promise she'll be safe. Spock, you need to rest. I'll look after her." Hesitantly he nodded,

'_If you need me, call.'_ I nodded my head. Jim and Spock helped me up. I held Jim's hand as we walked down the hall,

"Spock was very worried about you. He didn't sleep for days until Bones had to finally inject him with a sedative." I shook my head with a smile,

'_Jim, how bad were the guards hurt?'_

"No one was terribly injured. You were the only one seriously injured. They'll all be fine." We entered the brig where I found a lot of guards and a restrained Fallor. He was in biocuffs and was held behind a force field. But that wasn't what had caught my attention. The amount of damage that had been done to Fallor was immense. His nose looked as though it was broken. His cheek was swollen, his lips split wide open, a black eye, and a massive head wound,

'_Did Spock do all that?'_ He nodded,

"He almost killed him with his bare hands. It took Scotty, Bones, and I to pull Spock off of him. I had never seen such a… furious look in his eyes. He was openly angry. It was even worse than when I provoked him after Vulcan's destruction." I let that process before looking back to Fallor,

'_Will you be my voice?'_ He nodded, _'Address him as Margoth. And ask him if he knows what happened to my father.' _

"Margoth, do you know what happened to Commander O'Callaghan." Fallor or Margoth let an evil smile cross his face,

"Very good, you are right I am Margoth. At least, my mind is. This body is a shell of what was Fallor. And you, little Amaya. That is what your father referred to you as. It was a pleasure to finally meet you. My only regret was not having the privilege of finishing I had started." He glanced at my throat and I knew what he meant,

'_Ask him if he killed my father.'_

"Did you kill Commander O'Callaghan?" He let out a hardy laugh,

"If only it were so. I would have loved to burn him alive. But sadly I never found him. That's why I settled for the second best thing. His daughter." I tightened my grip on Jim's hand. Anger boiled in me,

"What did he do to make you hate him so much?"

"He killed my brother. He murdered him while his back was turned."

'_Liar! Your brother was mad. He was absolutely crazed. He tried to help him and your brother attacked him!'_

"We're done here. I'll be back to talk to you. Amaya, lets go." He led me out of the brig and once we were out of the room I felt my anger leave me and my knees gave out. "Amaya!" Jim sunk with me,

'_I'm alright. I'm alright. I just lost a lot of energy with him. Anger takes up a lot of energy.'_

"I should call Bones." He went to stand but I pulled him back,

'_No, I'm fine. Please, you'll only worry him. Help me up.' _He did as I asked and helped me up. We slowly made our way back to Sick Bay. When we entered Spock swiftly moved toward me and picked me up. He carried me back to my biobed,

'_You should not have gone. You have overworked yourself.'_

'_Spock I'm fine. Just a little tired.'_ He put me down and pushed a strand of hair out of my face, _'You hurt your hands far more than you let on.' _ I pulled his hand down and pulled back the bandage. His hand was swollen and there were many green scratches and bruises on them.

'_I am alright.'_

'_No, no you're hurt.' _He pulled his hand back and brushed his knuckles against my face,

'_Sleep Amaya.'_

'_I don't… want… to sleep…'_ What I had failed to see was Leo come up beside me with a sedative.


	9. Bonded to Gothos

I would like to thank those of you have favorite, followed, and reviewed. It means a lot to me to know how much you like my work. I want to let you know that the second half of this chapter is from The Squire of Gothos of the first season of the original series. I've though about using a few of the old episodes in my story because they seem like a great episode to add my character into it. Please, let me know what you think.

When I woke it was late. I knew it was because most of the patients were sleeping. I slowly stood and made my way to Leo's office. Just as I suspected he was working late. I was half way in the room when he realized I was there,

"Amaya, you should be in bed." I shook my head with a smile. I took hold of his hand,

'_You were very clever in sedating me.'_ He chuckled,

'_Spock said you were angry and then that you lost a lot of energy. So I prepared a sedative for you when you got here. Thankfully the hobgoblin kept you occupied.'_

'_Leo, his hands looked horrible. They showed signs of-'_

'_Amaya, I know. I took care of him. They'll heal in time. They were bleeding terribly and much more swollen than what you saw.'_

'_Jim said Spock almost killed him.'_

'_He just about did. I was all for letting him kill Fallor though for what he did to you. Spock was very angry about it. He fought us tooth and nail to get to him. He's becoming much more human around you.'_

'_He is half human. He just doesn't let anyone see it.'_

'_Anyone but you of course.'_ I scowled at him,

'_Normally just in private. But lately…'_ He placed his free hand on my shoulder,

'_Darlin' don't fight it.'_

'_You sound like Nyota.' _He laughed,

'_It's about three in the morning. Go back to bed.'_

'_Yes sir.'_ I gave him a mock salute and he chuckled before kissing my temple,

'_Go.'_ I did as he asked and went back to my bed. I couldn't sleep though and so I let my mind wonder. And unfortunately my mind wandered to a certain Vulcan. I sighed, I was falling. And I was falling hard. I rubbed my temples. Nyota was right I was falling for Spock. I wondered about the possibility of us being bonded. Were we bonded? More importantly if we were would Spock **want** to be bonded with me? I bit my lip slightly. Spock and I are able to communicate longer and through further distances. And emotion passed between us easily. I was lost at what to do. When 0600 came along Nyota entered Sick Bay.

"You ready to get out of here?" I nodded my head vigorously, "Let me tell McCoy and then we can leave." She went into his office and then a moment later she came back with him.

"Alright darlin' listen up. You can go with Nyota but you must rest. Nyota don't leave her."

"I promise that I will stay with her." She took hold of my hand and we headed out, "Do you want to go to your quarters or mine?"

'_Yours. I'm not quite comfortable with my quarters yet.'_ She nodded her head and we headed to her quarters. We entered her room and I sat down on her bed, _'Earlier you had something to tell me.'_

"Yes! I wanted to wait until we were alone though to tell you. When you were attacked none of us knew about it. We were all on the bridge when suddenly Spock shot out of seat. He said your name before running to the turbo lift. He looked scared. The Captain followed after him and when I went to Sick Bay I found McCoy fighting to save you. Your throat was burned so badly that you were bleeding. McCoy was frightened and it drove him to do everything to save you. And that whole time Spock stood by you. His hands were dripping with blood and they looked absolutely horrible. It wasn't until you were settled that he allowed McCoy to look at them. Then he wouldn't leave you. He sat there for four days, holding your hand. The fourth day McCoy had to trick him to sedate him. Amaya, he loves you." I bit my lip and took hold of her hand,

'_Nyota… you were right, about me at least, I… I've fallen for him.'_ She squealed,

"I told you! Oh Amaya, you two are finally admitting you love each other."

'_You don't know for sure that he likes me.'_

"Oh shut up, he does. And I'll make sure he sees that himself the next chance you get." I smiled at her,

'_You're very persistent aren't you.'_ She grinned at me,

"Of course I am! Now let's get you some food. I'm sure you must be hungry." I nodded, "I'll get you some soup. It'll be easier on your throat." I nodded again and she called a yeoman. She sat down next to me and pulled out a holomovie, "Would you like me to braid your hair?" I nodded again. She pulled my hair out of its messy pony tail and combed it out with her fingers. Then she began to braid it. I curled my feet underneath me. When she finished braiding it the yeomen appeared with my soup and a glass of water. I ate slowly. It hurt a bit but it tasted good. Well, as good as replicated soup can taste. When I finished Nyota helped me to a mirror. I wanted to see what my neck looked like, "McCoy said that there should be minimal scarring."

'_Another scar to add to my collection.' _She placed her hand on my shoulder,

"It'll be alright, you'll see. Would you be alright by yourself if I took a shower?" I nodded. She went into the bathroom and left me alone. I lied down on her bed and watched the holomovie.

'_Amaya.'_

'_Spock.'_

'_How are you fairing?'_

'_Well, thank you. Spock, when will I get to see you again?'_

'_This afternoon. I shall be by after my shift is over.'_ I bit my lip slightly,

'_Alright... when the time comes would you help me with my vocal lessons?'_

'_Of course.'_

'_Thank you Spock.' _

'_What is troubling you?'_ Blast this empathetic link,

'_I'm… I mean I… it's nothing Spock.'_

'_Though I do not believe you I will let it be, for now. Rest Amaya.'_

'_Spock… please, is there no way I can see you before the end of your shift?' _

'_I will be there in three hours when we break for lunch.'_ I smiled,

'_Again thank you Spock.'_ Soon enough Nyota was done and when she came out she sat down next to me. She rummaged through her nightstand before pulling out the hairpin she had lent me.

"Here, I want you to have this."

'_Nyota I couldn't. You told me this was your grandmothers, I couldn't possibly-'_

"Yes you could. Please, it's a gift. Besides, Spock seemed to really like it." I sighed and accepted the gift,

'_By the way, I talked to Spock, he said he'd be by in three hours during the lunch break.'_ She smirked at me,

"When he shows up I'll leave you guys alone." I smiled at her,

'_Thank you Nyota.'_ Three hours passed quickly. And when Spock arrived Nyota took her leave. He sat down next to me on the bed,

"I thought I should let you know that the Captain has contacted Admiral Pike who is on his way here to meet us." I shook my head and took hold of Spock's hand,

'_He didn't need to do that. Pike doesn't need to worry about me.'_

'_He feels he must. He feels the need to make sure you are alright.' _I really didn't need to hold Spock's hand to be able to have a telepathic conversation with him but I liked holding his hand. Spock knows this and since he has made no move to correct that then he might enjoy the contact as well, _'Amaya, what troubles you? You seemed distressed earlier.'_

'_It's nothing really. I just… it's nothing. I'm just being emotional.' _I looked away because I was afraid of what I might see in his eyes. He gently turned my chin so I was looking at him,

'_Emotion is what defines you. Not because you are half Betazoid but because of who __**you**__ are. You are compassionate and caring. You feel and yet you do not let your emotions control your every move. Emotion is part of you. Even I have emotion, most do not see it unless I permit it but you… you have managed to draw it out of me. And I am willing to show it to you. You have made me understand some of the human ways. I better understand my mother and how she felt. I even understand how my father felt about my mother.'_ I stared into his eyes. Oh those beautiful, brown human eyes. I hadn't realized just how much they captivate me so until now.

'_Spock, I have wanted to ask you something.'_

'_What is it?'_

'_Are… are we… bonded? You and I.' _He seemed to think for a moment,

'_I was unsure of that myself until recent events. Now I am certain of it. We are bonded.'_ I bit my lip,

'_Do you wish to be bonded to me?'_ He raised an eyebrow at me as the corners of his lips turned up a bit,

'_I would have no other.'_ I smiled at him as my apprehension washed away,

'_Nor would I.'_ He raised a hand to my cheek and I leaned into his touch.

'_It is not a complete bond until our minds meld, but it is not something to be rushed.' _I grinned at him before placing a kiss on his palm. A spark seemed to pass between us. We were buzzing with the amount of connection there was between us. He gave me a smile before he slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. It was soft and warm. He was very gentle. It didn't last long but it lasted long enough. When he pulled away he still had a smile on his face,

'_You're smiling. I told you that one day I'd get you to smile.'_

'_It would appear that you are correct. You give me reason to smile. You allow me to be both Vulcan and human with you. You accept me for what I am.'_

'_Just as you accept me for what I am.'_ He leaned back against the headboard and pulled me close to him. I curled up against his side and he wrapped his arm around me, still holding my hand.

'_We are different and yet we are the same.'_ I was warm wrapped up in Spock's arms. It was a place I don't think I ever want to leave. I was beginning to feel a bit drowsy though,_ 'You should rest Amaya.'_ I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent as well,

'_Stay with me?'_

'_Always.'_ He placed a kiss on my hand before I fell asleep completely. When I woke I thought everything that had happened between Spock and I was a dream. At least I thought so until I realized that I was still curled up against Spock's side. I tilted my head up a bit and smiled at what I saw. He was in a meditative state. His eyes were shut and his breathing was soft and even. I knew he wasn't asleep though. I couldn't explain to you how I knew this except for that it was probably because we were bonded. I grinned. Bonded. As human as it may seem, I liked the sound of it. I watched him for a few minutes before leaning up and placing a kiss on his jaw. His eyes opened and he looked down at me and smiled before gently kissing me. When he pulled away he brushed some of my hair out of my face,

'_When do you have to go back to the bridge?'_

'_In approximately 5.7 minutes. The Captain allowed me to have a longer break.' _

'_Where are we headed to now?'_

'_Colony Beta VI. We are delivering supplies. It will take eight days to reach it.'_

'_I wish I could go with the landing party.'_ He raised an eyebrow at me, _'I'd just like to see something different for a change. A new planet that I've never been to before. But I probably won't be allowed off this ship until my voice is better.'_

'_Your desire for a change of scenery is understandable. We have been on the Enterprise for almost three months now.' _There was a chiming sound and Jim's voice came over the com,

"Mr. Spock report to the bridge. Mr. Spock report to the bridge." Spock stood and crossed the room to where the com was. He pressed the call button,

"Spock here Captain."

"Spock, there's something unusual going on up here. I need you to come up to the bridge immediately."

"On my way Captain."

"Oh, and Spock, tell Amaya I said hello." I smiled and shook my head,

"Yes, Captain. Spock out." He ended the call and I stood and walked towards him,

'_Try not to hurt him. He's actually quite fond of you.'_ The corners of his mouth turned up just a bit,

'_He, I believe the phrase is, means well?'_ I nodded,

'_Yes, he means well. I'll see you later?'_

'_I shall be by after my shift. Most likely with the Captain and the Doctor as well.'_ I grinned,

'_I look forward to it. Now go on, before he calls for you again.'_ He kissed my hand before turning and leaving. I couldn't wipe the stupid grin I had on my face. I lied back down on Nyota's bed and just smiled. I felt like one of those stupid love struck teenage girls in the old earth holomovies my mother would watch. To be honest I had never felt this way, mainly because I had never had a boyfriend before. I mean who would want to date a half human half humanoid? Some people were frightened of me because of my eyes. Some held distaste for me because I was empathetic and telepathic. They didn't like the idea of me being able to hear their minds or feel their feelings. But being here, on this ship. None of that really seemed to matter. I felt… normal. I felt loved, a rarity for me. It was as rare as Spock's smiles. I was pulled out of my thoughts however when the red alert when off. I shot out of the bed and went straight for the com. I stopped when I realized I couldn't physically speak to anyone. Spock would be busy so I didn't want to interrupt him, so I went and grabbed Nyota's PADD off the desk. I pressed a few buttons and found out what was wrong. Sulu and Jim had disappeared and were believed to be on a foreign planet. A landing party was formed. There were three people, I only recognized Leo's name. We were currently orbiting the planet a fourteenth time. I exited Nyota's quarters and headed to the bridge. When I got there I found that the landing party was back and so were Sulu and Jim. I looked at Nyota who was by Leo,

"Doctor what was it? What was down there?"

"Well, it was a… oh, forget it." Jim was talking to a female yeomen when she stopped,

"Look." We all turned to where she was looking to see a man dressed in what looked like royal clothes from Earth's past. He looked like he walked out of history book on the kings of France. He had on a blue velvet coat with gold trim and a white cape with silver trim. His hair was black and the way he held himself screamed arrogance.

"Where are all your weapons, Captain? Don't you display your weapons?" Jim stood up out of his chair.

"Trelane." So that was his name. Very odd name for an equally odd man. Spock glanced in my direction,

'_Amaya, you should go back to Nyota's quarters.'_

'_Spock who or what is he?'_

'_I do not know. Amaya-'_

'_Spock, if trouble starts I promise to go to Nyota's. Please?' _He sighed and shook his head with a very small, almost unnoticeable, smile.

'_Very well. But stay near the Doctor.'_ I grinned and nodded my head.

"Don't fret Captain. I'm only a bit upset with you. But this Mr. Spock you mentioned," My eyes widened a bit, "The one responsible for that unseemly, impudent act of taking you from me, which is he?" I looked toward Spock begging him not to say anything. But of course he wouldn't jeopardize anybody and spoke up,

"I am Spock." Trelane scoffed,

"Oh. Surely not an officer?" My mouth hung open and I felt my blood boil, "Isn't quite human, is he?" Leo took hold of my arm and squeezed it,

'_Don't even think about it.'_ Spock stood,

"My father is from the planet Vulcan."

"And are its natives predatory?"

"Not generally," He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, "but there have been exceptions." Trelane smirked at him,

"Really? You will see to his punishment?" He looked to Jim,

"On the contrary. I commend his action."

"But I don't like him." I pulled slightly against Leo's grip,

'_And I don't like you.'_

'_Down girl.'_ Jim went up to Trelane,

"Get off my ship."

"Or what? You're all going back with me."

"We're not going anywhere."

"Nonsense. I have an absolutely enchanting sojourn on Gothos planned for all of you. And you shan't spoil it for me. Anyway, the décor of my drawing room is much more appropriate." One moment we were on the ship and the next we were in his drawing room. Which looked like something out of a history book, just like him. "And tasteful. Don't you agree?" I was no longer by Leo but by Nyota and the female yeomen at the piano. Sulu shook his head,

"No."

"But so much more fitting honorable sir." Telane bowed to Sulu.

"You-" A man, a navigator I believe stood up from the table,

"DeSalle." Jim didn't even get another word out before DeSalle was frozen where he stood.

"Oh, what primitive fury. Why, he's the very soul of sublime savagery."

"Trelane, let him go." Trelane was far to giddy about this whole ordeal. He let DeSalle go and Sulu immediately took hold of him and whispered to him. Trelane smiled,

"Yes of course, I forgot that is shouldn't frighten you too much. But I warn you, you can't provoke me again. Come, everyone, let's forget your bad manners. Let's be full of merry talk and sallies of wit." He strode over to where the head of the table was and took his cape off, draping it over the back of the chair, "We have victuals to delight the palate and brave company to delight the mind." He poured a glass of wine, "Come, doctor, do partake." He looked to Jim who nodded. The men sat down at the table hesitantly. That is all except Spock and Jim, "Ah. You've been, uh, quite derelict in your social duties, captain." Trelane set his glass down before striding over to us, "You haven't introduced me to the charming contingent of your crew." Nyota gripped my hand tightly. She was afraid but she wouldn't show it. Not to him. Not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her scared. I looked towards Spock who was tense but kept the emotionless look on his face. His eyes however burned with anger. Jim glanced at him before facing us,

"This is… General Trelane."

"Retired. But if you prefer, you may address me as the lonely squire of Gothos, dear ladies."

'_Swine.'_

'_Don't do anything rash Amaya.'_

"Lieutenant Uhura, communications."

"Ah. A Nubian prize." He bowed and took hold of her other hand and kissed it, "Taken on one of your raids of conquest, no doubt, captain?" She pulled her back and scowled at him. Jim sighed,

"No doubt."

'_You had it right Amaya, he is swine.'_ I smirked.

"She has the melting eyes of the Queen of Sheba. The same lovely coloring." He then turned his attention to the yeoman, "And this? Is this the face that launched a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Fair Helen, make me immortal with a kiss." He went to make a move toward her but was stopped by Jim taking hold of his arm,

"Yeoman Teresa Ross." He then went to pull him back toward the table but Trelane stopped him,

"Captain, I believe you are forgetting the other young lady here." He turned to me and smiled, "You must have been Shakespeare's muse. For there is no other as lovely as you. The beautiful Juliet that must be you." Jim glanced at me before introducing us,

"Lieutenant Amaya O'Callaghan."

"An Irish woman! How delightful! The Irish have such a fighting spirit." He grinned at me and it was I could do not to scowl or gag. Jim pulled him back and faced Spock, who was very angry though his face never showed it,

"I believe you have met our science officer, Mr. Spock." There was a pause as he sized Spock up,

"You do realize, don't you, that it's in deference to the captain that I brought you here?" I wanted to laugh. Spock could kill him if he wasn't holding on to his emotions.

"Affirmative."

"Well, I don't know if I like your tone. It's most challenging. Is that what you're doing, challenging me?"

'_Spock, don't do it! I know you could but don't do it!'_

"I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose." Jim and I shared a smile,

"Oh Mr. Spock, you do have one saving grace after all: you're ill-mannered." Again I wanted to laugh, "The human half of you, no doubt." He chuckled and came back to us taking hold of yeoman Teresea, "Ah, come, my little wood nymph. Won't you dance with your swain?" He turned to Nyota, "Give us some sprightly music, dear girl. And you my muse sing us a song."

"Oh, I don't know how to place this. And she can't sing she-"

"Of course you do." He flicked his wrist and she began playing. Then he flicked his wrist again and I began to sing. It was a French song so I didn't recognize the lyrics. But the sound was being forced out of my throat and against my will. It hurt. My throat hurt so badly. This wasn't natural, and I couldn't stop. But he was too busy dancing to notice my pain and I felt like I was rooted to the floor beside Nyota. They kept dancing and the pain grew, "Ah, my dear, don't we make a graceful pair?" He stopped and looked at her, "Except for one small detail. That dress hardly matches this charming scene." He glanced at the huge mirror behind him before flicking his wrist and instantly Yeoman Teresa was in a fancy light purple dress. She turned to look at herself in the mirror, "Ah, yes. That;s more of what we want. The dashing warrior… and his elegant lady." Then they continued dancing. Tears began stroll down my cheek. I looked in the mirror to try and get the other's attention but they were deep in conversation. And I was far too much pain to reach out to Spock. I grabbed Nyota's shoulder. Her fingers kept playing but she turned to me. Her eyes widened when she saw my face,

"Doctor McCoy! I need help!" He came running over and saw exactly what was wrong. He took hold of my face and ran his tricorder over me before removing part of the bandage,

"Her throat is bleeding."

"She can't stop singing. Just like I can't stop playing." Tears rolled down my cheeks as the pain grew. Spock took hold of my hand trying to push the foreign voice out of me but it didn't work.

"Trelane, let her go!" He stopped and stared at us,

"And why should I Captain?" Leo growled,

"Because you're forcing her vocal chords to work when they're damaged! She didn't say anything because she couldn't talk! Now her throat is bleeding from the amount of damage that's being done!" He sighed,

"Very well." He flicked his wrist and the music and singing. I gasped and Spock took hold of my arms and pulled me over to a chair making me sit down as Leo ran his tricorder over me again before pulling out a hypo and sticking me with it,

"That should help with the pain. He's managed to rip open a few of the minor tears that were healing. I don't have any bandages or equipment to help me repair it." He cursed and stood and headed over to Jim leaving me with Spock. Spock wiped my tears away and held my hands in his,

'_Stupid swine.' _He forced a small smile onto his face but I could feel the anger in him, _'I'll be alright. Honest I will.'_

'_I should have sent you to Nyota's quarters.' _I grinned a little,

'_I wouldn't have stayed there very long now would I? Besides this is one of the hazards of our job. Spock, you can't protect me all the time. Granted I'm not the best fighter but I can hold my own fairly well.' _He looked towards Jim and I looked as well seeing that Jim had pulled the yeoman away from Trelane and appeared to be arguing with him,

'_Once we are returned to the ship I shall teach you how to improve your fighting skills.'_ I smiled at him,

'_First we must get out of here.' _He kissed my knuckles before standing and pulling me over toward the others,

"Why I do believe that the captain is jealous."

"I don't care what you believe. Just keep your hands off her."

"Oh how curiously human. How wonderfully barbaric."

"I've had enough of your insulting attentions to her."

"Of course you have. After all, that's the root of the matter, isn't it? You fight for the attention, the admiration, the possession of women."

"If it's fighting that you want…" He pulled back and slapped Trelane, "You may have it" Trelane grinned,

"Are you challenging me to a duel?"

"If you have the courage."

"Oh this is better than I had planned. I shall not shirk an affair of honor." Trelane went to the fireplace and pulled an ornate wooden box of the mantle. Then he went to the piano and sat it down before opening it, "A matched set. Just like the pair that slew your heroic Alexander Hamilton." He picked up one of the guns and raised it to Jim's head, "And captain… I never miss." We all moved out of the way leaving Jim and Trelane near the piano and mirror. I held on to Spock's arm as the scene unfolded. Jim was going to try and shoot out the mirror which he believed to be Trelane's source of power, "Oh how fascinating. I'm party to an actual human duel."

"Are you ready?"

"Quite ready, sir. We shall test each other's courage, and then… heh, and then we shall see."

"Enough talk. Let's get on with it."

"As you will, sir. Honor will be served, eh?" They began to raise their guns when he stopped, "Oh, wait. As the one challenged, I claim the first shot."

"We shoot together." Trelane made a face that bordered anger,

"It's my game and my rules." He acts like a child, "But if you need to be persuaded…" Trelane then pointed the gun to Spock and I, "My dear mute muse if you will…" He motioned for me to move out of the way but I only tightened my grip on Spock's arm,

'_Amaya-'_

'_No I'm not moving now hush.'_ Jim glanced at us,

"Alright."

"Captain…" Jim shook his head violently. Whatever Spock had planned on doing Jim didn't want him to do it. Trelane pointed the gun at Jim and cocked it. A grin crossed his face as he then raised it to the ceiling and fired,

"And now, captain… how do you have the expression? 'My fate is in _your _hands." Trelane closed his eyes and spread his arms open. That smug smile still on his face. Jim smirked as he cocked the gun and pointed it at Trelane for a while then pointed it at the mirror and fired. It shattered and smoke and sparks burst forth from it. The fire died and the lights began to flicker. Trelane became angry, I couldn't feel it but I could I see it. Earlier the doctor had told me that Trelan didn't exist he wasn't dead nor was he alive. "You've ruined everything."

"The machine." Spock stared at what was the mirror as the smoke cleared we could see that it was indeed a machine. A communicator beeped letting us know the force field had been broken,

"Captain, subspace interference is clearing."

"Try to contact the ship." Trelane stared at his ruined machine,

"Oh the remarkable treachery of the species."

"Go on, Trelane, look at it. It's over. Your power is blanked out. You're finished." Trelane began to seethe,

"You've earned my wrath. Go back. Go back to your ship… all of you. And prepare. You're all dead men. You especially captain." Trelane stormed up to his broken machine then disappeared. That was not supposed to happen,

"Trelane." Jim moved toward the machine and stopped before turning Back to us and pulling out his communicator, "Everyone, we're getting out of here now. This is the captain. Commence beaming up. Maximum speed. We were beamed up and Spock and Jim made me head to Sick Bay with Leo.

'_Leo, please, can't this wait? I want to be on the bridge. I want to see if we got away for sure.'_

'_Amaya, I'm going to tend to your throat before it gets any worse. Now come on. It'll take ten minutes at the most to repair the damage.'_ And sure enough ten minutes later he was done and we were headed to the bridge. When the lift opened we went down by the helm where Spock and Jim were,

"Full-Power acceleration from orbit, Mr. Scott."

"Full power sir."

"Emergency warp at the earliest possible moment, Mr. Sulu."

"Standing by to warp, sir." Nyota smiled at me before addressing Jim,

"Shall I make a full report to Spacefleet Command, sir?"

"Not yet. They may trace our beam." We moved away from the planet as quickly as possible, "Wait until we're well out of range."

"Can we know what his range is, captain?" Spock was now at his station and I went ot stand beside him. I had yet to actually see Spock at work.

"We can take and educated guess. At the point we first entered their solar system."

"Still no sign of pursuit. Instruments clear, sir." He nodded to Nyota before turning to the yeoman who was still in that fancy dress the Trelane gave her.

"May I take a moment to change?"

"Yes I think you might… turn in your glass slippers. The ball is over." I rolled my eyes, he was still such a flirt.

"Gladly Captain." And she left.

"Hard to believe that… it ever happened." Sulu chimed in,

"Captain, we're about to warp."

"Large body ahead." We all looked to the main screen to see the planet coming straight at us,

"Collision course."

"Hard to port, Mr. Sulu." I held on tight as the ship made a hard turn. Spock turned to Jim,

"That was the planet Gothos, captain."

"Gothos? Mr. Sulu, have we been going in circles?"

"No, sir. All instruments show on course."

"Gothos again, captain." And sure enough there it was, right in front of us again,

"Hard over, Mr. Sulu." We made another turn and I held on tightly to the back of Spock's chair.

"Cat- and-mouse game."

"With us as the mouse." Jim looked back to Spock. The helmsman shouted,

"There it is again!" Jim gripped the helm,

"Ninety degrees to starboard, Mr. Sulu."

"Turning Captain." The planet moved with us. We tried to evade it a few more times but the planet kept moving with us. We were still on a collision course,

"Decelerate in orbit. Prepare Transporter Room." Leo moved to intercept him,

"Captain… you're not beaming down."

"Yes, I am, Doctor McCoy. I am going to see our playful Mr. Trelane. And whatever it takes to make him give up our ship. Stand by communications. Mr. Spock," Spock moved toward the captain, he didn't like this idea, I could tell. "If you don't receive a message from me within the hour, leave the vicinity at once, no turning back." Jim left before anyone could get a word in,

'_I don't like this. Trelane wants to kill him.'_

'_The captain is… persuasive and very resourceful. We must trust that he will find a way out.' _I felt useless standing there and went over to the engineering board. I pressed a few buttons and checked impulse power and thrusters. I kept myself busy checking instruments. Anything to keep my mind off of the fact that our time was dwindling. Finally though the tension was broken when Jim called us,

"Captain to Enterprise, captain to Enterprise." Spock looked at me then went to the Captain's chair and pressed the call button,

"Captain… we're receiving you."

"Beam me up, Mr. Spock. We're free to go." We beamed him up and when he returned to the bridge he told us about the trial Trelane put him on and then how he managed to convince him to raise the stakes and he was hunted like a fox being hunted by hunting party. When he told us of how Trelan was really an entity of sorts and that he was actually just a child I really wanted to laugh. It made sense why he had such a short temper. Jim sat down in his chair as Sulu reported that we were warping down.

"Now, warp factor four."

"Approach channels clear, captain." Nyota took her ear piece out before looking at Jim,

"Colony Beta six clears us for normal approach, sir." He nodded before turning forward again,

"Normal orbit approach procedures, Mr. Sulu." Spock approached Jim and addressed him, "Mr. Spock, still thinking about Trelane, is that it?"

"For the record, captain… how do we describe him? Pure mentality? Force of intellect? Embodied energy? Superbeing? He must be classified, sir." I smiled, Spock is always one for specifics.

"God of war, Mr. Spock." Spock raised an eyebrow at him,

"Well, I hardly find that fitting."

"Then a small boy… and a very naughty one at that."

"It will make a strange entry in the library banks." I shook my head with smile. I found Spock's lack in understanding human comments to be very cute. Though I don't think he'd like that very much.

"But then he was a very strange small boy. On the other hand, he was probably doing things comparable to the same mischievous pranks you played when you were a boy." Spock gave him a confused look,

"Mischievous pranks, captain?"

"Yes, dipping little girls' curls in inkwells, stealing apples from the neighbors trees, tying cans on-" He stopped when he saw the clearly confused look on Spock's face, "Forgive me… Mr. Spock. I should've known better."

"I shall be delighted, captain." He headed back to his station. He stopped and turned back to Jim as if to say something but merely raised and eyebrow and shook his head before sitting down at his station. I smiled and laughed on this inside, _'Would you care to enlighten me as to what mischievous pranks are?'_

'_I will later, after your shift. I believe it may take a while.'_

'_Very well. You got your wish of getting off the ship for a time.'_

'_Yes, however that was not how I intended for it to be. I think I'd like to stay on the ship for a while now.' _A very small smile crossed his face,

'_I believe that would be a wise decision. You should go back to Sick Bay, do not try and tell me that the hypospray for the pain has not worn off.' _I shook my head with a smile,

'_Alright, I'll go down to Sick Bay right now.' _While no one was paying attention he took hold of my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles. I smiled at him then headed to the turbo lift. I think life might just be changing in my favor for a change.


	10. Two of a Kind

For the next few days I did nothing. I was bored. I wasn't allowed to work in engineering or Sick Bay because I couldn't speak. I did manage to talk Leo into allowing me to spar with Spock and Sulu. It was far more fun to spar with Spock when we were alone.

'_Spock, you move much faster than I ever anticipated.' _He had me pinned, again, for the fifth time. He gave me a small smile,

'_Your speed and strength has improved over the last few days. You have been pinned far fewer times.'_

'_You're just being nice.'_

'_I am a Vulcan, nice is not something we portray.'_

'_You are also half human. Nice is something humans are prone to. Besides, I think you enjoy pinning me.' _A small smile crossed his face,

'_I do not find it a displeasing position.' _I smiled at him and leaned up a bit and pressed my lips against his. He kissed me back, it was slow and gentle as always and I smiled into the kiss. _'I believe you… enjoy this position as well.'_ I pulled away and another smile crossed his face,

'_Maybe.'_ There was a chime and Spock let me up and pulled me up. He grabbed his communicator,

"Spock here."

"Spock, Admiral Pike's ship will be here in ten minutes. I suggest you and Amaya get cleaned up before he gets here. Kirk out." I shook my head with a smile,

'_He always seems to know.'_

'_I believe he uses the ships technology to… spy on us.'_ We headed to my quarters,

'_Well, he's probably wondering if we're a couple yet. Human's have the tendency to let their curiosity get the better of them when it comes to other's relationships.'_ He gave me a small smile as we arrived at my quarters.

'_I shall be back to collect you before Pike arrives.' _He took hold of my hand and kissed my knuckles before departing. I quickly showered and changed into a red shirt, black pants, and boots. I brushed my hair out and let it fall down my back. I thought about it for a moment before pulling out the hairpin Nyota had given me. I pinned part of my hair back like she showed me. My door chimed letting me know that Spock was ready for me.

'_Enter.'_ He did and I saw a small smile appear on his face,

'_Are you ready?'_

'_I am. Shall we go greet the Admiral?'_ He ran the back of his hand against my cheek and up to my hair,

'_Your hair looks… very appealing this way.' _I smiled at him,

'_I thought you might like it this way.'_ He ran his thumb across my cheek before placing a small kiss on my lips. There was another chime signaling a call,

"Commander Spock, Lieutenant O'Callaghan please report to the transporter room." I smiled before kissing him again.

'_I think we might be late.'_ He gave me another small smile and kissed me once more,

'_I believe you are correct.' _We left my quarters and made our way to the transporter room. When we got there Jim, Leo, Scotty, and Pike were all waiting for us. Jim smirked at us,

"It's nice of you two to join us." I gave him a scowl and he chuckled. I turned to Pike,

"Hello Amaya." He held out his arms and I walked into them. He gave me a tight hug before pulling away, "Doctor McCoy, Captain Kirk, and Engineer Scott here were telling me about all that had happened since I last saw you. I'm here to not only see you but to question Margoth as well. Then I'll scatter his atoms into deep space." I took hold of his hands,

'_I'm fine Pike, really I am.'_

'_Amaya, you've lost the use of your voice. You're not alright. I've dealt with Margoth before. I'll get answers out of him. See what he knows about what happened to your father and if anybody else is coming after you.'_

'_Alright, just make sure that you don't take Spock with you to interrogation.' _He smiled at me,

'_**That**__ is another topic we need to discuss.'_ I rolled my eyes as he moved toward Jim and clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Let's go talk to Margoth." Spock took a step forward,

"Admiral I request to accompany you in the interrogation?" Jim and Pike smirked at each other,

"No Spock, I think not. Not this time at least." The two left and Leo chuckled,

"Alright darlin' let's take another look at your throat." We walked to Sick Bay together with Spock in tow. I sat down on a biobed and Leo went to work. He pulled the bandage back and gently touched the tender flesh. "Well, it doesn't look as angry. The wounds are starting to scab over." He ran his tricorder over me, "Your vocal chords are healing nicely. I think you're ready to start your vocal lessons." I smiled at him and grabbed his hand,

'_Can I start today?'_ He chuckled,

"I think you could start today. However, you need to take it slow. Start out small. You should stick to humming for a few days. Get your vocal chords use to being used again. It'll hurt a bit but that's to be expected. If it starts to hurt too much I want you to come see me right away. And if you don't fess up to it, why, I'll just ask Spock." I scowled at him and he laughed, "You've picked up that scowl from me. Now I'm gonna put a new bandage on this and give you a hypo to prevent infection." He quickly bandaged my neck before administering the hypo. When he was through Spock and I left.

'_I assume you wish to start practicing now?'_ I grinned,

'_Yes, I'd like to start now if you have the time.'_ We stopped at his quarters and went in. It wasn't my first time in his quarters but I still found it to be a slight shock to my body whenever I entered. His room was so warm. Most humans can't stand the heat that comes off of Vulcan. I actually enjoyed the heat. It was… inviting. We sat down on the sofa in his room and began my vocal lessons. Spock took hold of my hand and placed the other on my throat.

'_Try humming. Slowly.'_ At first my voice felt rough and scratchy but after a few minutes it mellowed out a bit. I was only able to hum for a few minutes before it hurt too much. Over the next fifteen minutes I would hum for a while then rest. It was after another fifteen minutes that Spock stopped me, _'I believe that will suffice for now. Tomorrow we shall try again.'_ I nodded,

'_Alright, I'm just glad that I got to use it for a while. Even if it is only humming.'_

'_I must speak with the Admiral and the Captain. Do not try to use your voice, you may strain it.'_

'_Alright, I won't use it. I think I'll go see Nyota or Scotty.' _He nodded his head before taking my hand and kissing my knuckles then leaving. I smiled a bit, Spock nor I have told anyone about our relationship. It was suspected but never confirmed. I hadn't even told Nyota, though she had already figured it out herself. I decided to go see Scotty and Keenser. I went to the turbo lift and went down to engineering. When the lift stopped I rushed out and looked for Keenser or Scotty. Eventually I found Scotty who had his back turned to me. I grinned and quietly snuck up behind him then I placed my hands over his eyes,

"Hmm, let me see. Who could it be? Small hands so most likely a woman? Now what woman would be down 'ere in the depths of the ship." He took hold of my hands and pulled them away before turning around. He grinned, "Amaya, my bonny lass!" He pulled me into a hug and laughed, "I've missed havin' ya down here. Keenser can only provide so much company." I took hold on his hand,

'_Where is Keenser, Scotty? I haven't gotten to see him in a while.'_ He chuckled,

"I'll get him for ya'. Oi! Keenser, get down from wherever ya are! Amaya's here to see us!" And a few minutes later Keenser came crawling down one of the main frames. I smiled at him as he came up to me and hugged me. He grabbed my hand,

'_It's good to see you. It's been boring around here without you.'_

'_Glad to know I amuse you.'_

'_When will you be back?'_

'_Soon I hope.'_

'_Well, it's still good to see you.'_

'_And you.'_ Keenser let go and climbed back up the main frame. I looked at Scotty who simply grinned at me,

"You lot are a funny pair. Now tell me, how's things between you and Mr. Pointy ears?" I grabbed his hand,

'_And what do you mean by that exactly?'_

"I mean, are ya gonna admit you're together or not?"

'_What makes ya think we're together?'_

"Oh nothin', just the way two act when ya think no one's lookin'. Don't think I don't see it, and I'm not alone in sayin' this either."

'_Really? Who else Scotty?'_

"Oh, ya know, no one specifically."

'_Liar.'_ He laughed,

"Alright, alright. It may have been another lass." I raised an eyebrow at him,

'_And just, ah, who might this lass be?'_ He blushed at this,

"Oh, ah, no one. No one special." I smirked at him,

'_I will find out Scotty.'_ He laughed a bit and rubbed the back of his neck,

"I'm sure ya will lassie. I'm sure ya will." I left engineering and found that I was bored… again. I was annoyed with the fact that I was useless. I ended up wandering back to my quarters and just lying on my bed. There was nothing for me to do, nothing at all. I reached over to my nightstand and pulled out my PADD. I began to flip through some of the old pictures I had saved on it. Most were of my home back in Ireland, My life in America, and Starfleet. There were only a few of actual people. There were a few of Thritha and a sad smile crossed my face. There was one of my mother, father, and I when I was very young. And the last one was of me and The Bloody Irish. There had been many more photos of us taken but this was the only one I kept. It was of me and five other members. Triskro the half human half Orion, his skin was a pale green and his hair a light purple. He was very spirited and tended to go into things he shouldn't. Jarek the Hupyrian. He was a tall humanoid, white-skinned, his face was very wrinkled. He was mute most of the time and rarely spoke but he was very loyal and devoted the gang. Kathliana the Suliban. She was a humanoid with mottled, greenish-tinted skin. She was a hard and unfeeling woman. She was deadly when it came to fighting. Maria the changeling. She was a humanoid with no sense of smell. She could morph into whoever she came across. She favored the Romulan look. She was very useful when it came to inside jobs. She took her job serious and yet found ways to be very light and cheerful outside of the gang. Leon the Ziblian. He was a humanoid but looked exactly like a human except the painting on the side of the face. It was a unique design and very well known custom to his people. He was my closet friend out of the six of us. We protected one another. We watched each others backs. He saved my life once. I sighed as I stared at the photo. What a ragtag group of kids we were. I ran a hand over my face before turning off the PADD. There were times when I wondered what happened to them. If they stayed with The Bloody Irish, if they were killed, did they get out? That was another time. A life time ago actually. There door chimed and I got up to press the button to open the door. Chekov and Sulu stood there with smiles and a wild plant. I grinned at them and stepped back, motioning for them to come in. They did and Sulu handed me the plant,

"Chekov and I were going through my collection of plants from other planets and we came across this one." It was a blue stemmed plant with a purple flower. It had a reddish tint to the inside of the petals. It was exotic and beautiful. Checkov grinned,

"It's from Betazed. We thought it might be nice for you to have something from your mother's home planet." I sat the plant down and took hold of both of their hands,

'_It's beautiful! I love it. You two are so sweet. Thank you.' _ I kissed each of them on the cheek and Chekov blushed a bit.

"I send you some instructions on how to take care of it if you like."

'_Yes Sulu, I'd appreciate that very much.'_ He smiled at me.

"Oh! And the Captain and Admiral Pike wanted me to tell you that they would like you, Mr. Spock, and Doctor McCoy to join them for dinner in the Captain's conference room."

'_Thank you Chekov. I'll let Mr. Spock and Doctor McCoy know.' _Sulu's communicator beeped and looked at it with a sigh,

"Chekov and I are needed back on the bridge. We'll see you later Amaya."

'_Bye Sulu, Chekov. And thanks again for the flower.'_ After they left I picked up the plant again and sat it on my nightstand. It was very pretty and I liked it very much. I sent a message to Leo and Spock letting them know about our dinner plans. Then I went back to my plant. It kept me busy for a while reading up on it and other plants and animals on Betazed. I was so occupied with it that I was almost late for dinner. I showed up just as Leo did and we went in together. Spock, Jim, and Pike were already there talking over something that apparently they didn't want us, or most likely me, to hear, because they stopped as soon as we entered,

"Amaya, McCoy. Now that you both are here, let's eat. I sat across from Spock because Pike and Jim were on either side of him. His eyes told me he wasn't thrilled with the arrangement. Conversation carried on normally throughout most of the meal and I was left to wonder what **exactly** we were here to discuss.

'_You seem very distant.'_ He raised an eyebrow at me,

'_I am merely trying to process the conversation I had with the Captain and Admiral Pike earlier today.'_

'_What was it about?'_

'_I think part of it is what we are here to discuss.'_

'_And the other part?' _He hesitated for a moment,

'_The Admiral said something very… peculiar to me. His exact words were, 'Take care of her, I don't want any harm to come to her. And I don't mean the ship.' Could you explain?' _I smiled at him and shook my head a little,

'_He was referring to me Spock. He knows you will but he wants to… install that in you.'_

'_Then why did he not simply refer to you?'_

'_Because he's human, and doesn't realize that at times you must explain things in specific detail.'_

"Hey! No mind talking you two!" Our heads snapped to Jim who was smirking at us while Pike and Leo were snickering. I turned to Spock and raised an eyebrow at him,

"Oh God she's beginning to act like the hobgoblin!" I smacked Leo's arm before taking hold of his hand,

'_Hey, I can't speak so I have to "mind talk" as Jim put it, and Spock is the only one I don't have to touch to do so. Making it far easier to talk to him and let him be my voice. So shut up Leo.'_ He let out a laugh before turning to Jim,

"She has a point Jim, she can't talk and Spock is the only one who can communicate with her without having to touch." He still had that smirk on his face as he stretched and put his arms behind his head,

"Maybe, but it's still impolite to have a conversation no one else can hear. I mean what if you were talking about me right in front of me without me even knowing it?" I looked at Spock and smirked,

'_He __**wishes**__ we talked about him.'_ The corners of his mouth turned up just a bit but the others noticed,

"You're doing it again!" Pike and Leo laughed as I simply shook my head and smiled. Jim chuckled, "Well at least it's Spock and not Scotty or Bones here. Either one would rot your brain out." Leo scoffed at him,

"And what about you Jim? I think you'd not only rot her mind but probably make her lose her sanity as well." Jim put on a face of mock hurt,

"Why, Bones, I…I never knew you thought of me as-as the kind of person who could corrupt such a lovely girl like Amaya here." When he said that, three things happened. Pike laughed so hard he was crying, Leo rolled his eyes and slapped him upside the head, and Spock's aura became very tense.

'_Easy Spock, he's just joking. He doesn't mean any offense by it.' _I sent him a slow and steady stream of calm and warm vibes to try and soothe over the anger that I knew was bubbling up in him,

'_That does no permit him to say such things.'_ Vulcan's were known to the public to be without emotion. What they failed to comprehend, however, was that Vulcan's felt deeply. They were very passionate creatures and had to control it or it would consume them. Protectiveness of one's mate was one thing that could draw that passion out of even the most controlled Vulcan if provoked enough. And Jim was treading that line.

"Please Jim, don't compare Amaya to the girls you used to bring home. She's no where close to them in comparison." Spock began to cool down at Leo's words and I was thankful for that. Jim and Spock were friends though neither would willingly admit that yet, and Jim didn't need to mess that up now. "You've corrupted many girls Jim, but Amaya will never be one of them." Jim laughed,

"No, no I know that. Believe me I knew I didn't have a shot with her. She was smart, and the smart ones don't come way." He chuckled, "But, Spock on the other hand…" The three men looked at Spock who looked right back at Jim with that expressionless look, "He has a much better shot than I do." The tension was a bit thick but thankfully no one lost their cool. Admiral Pike, sensing the tension, intervened,

"Well, I guess it's time we got down to business. To the real reason why we're here tonight. Amaya," He turned to me and folded his hands in front of him, "Jim and I interrogated Margoth, and we got some information from him. He willingly gave it to us though which makes me even more concerned. Apparently, there's a bounty on your head." I looked at Spock,

'_Who placed the bounty?'_

"She wishes to know who placed the bounty."

"That's just it. We don't know. Margoth said it was sent to him and to others. He doesn't know how many though. He never met the contractor. It just had a drop off place."

'_How much?'_ Spock conveyed my question and Pike sighed,

"More than the Federation pays for a yearly shipment of Dylithium crystals." That was a large price. One that people would risk everything including their lives for.

'_Dead or alive.'_ Spock stared at me,

'_Amaya-'_

'_Ask him Spock, we need to know. You know we do.'_ He hesitated before nodding and relaying my question,

"Either one. And I'm guessing that if its people like Margoth want revenge on your father, that they'd want you dead." Jim spoke up,

"We're not taking on any new crewmembers until that bounty is gone. We're also not taking that tracker out of you either. I won't post a guard on you… yet. But there will be security in on every floor for the time being. And you're not going on any landing party."

'_Spock, please tell him not to. At least not allowing me to go on away missions.'_

'_Amaya, it's too dangerous. I agree with the Captain.'_ I grabbed Leo's hand,

'_Tell him I want to go on away missions. Please.'_

'_No, Amaya, it's safer for you on the ship.'_ I let go and threw my hands up before getting up and going over to Jim. I grabbed his hand and made him look at me,

'_I'll agree with everything you've said but please let me go on away missions. What if it takes us months or years to figure out who put the bounty on my head but please let me go on away missions. I can't stay on this ship forever!'_ He sighed,

"Amaya, it's for your own protection."

'_I can protect myself! I've gotten better at defense. Ask Spock and Sulu! Please. I'm not meant to be caged up for long periods of time. I need to breathe every now and then. You love the Enterprise, and so do I. But there are times when we need to be on solid land, breathing real air and smelling the soil and the grass. Please… don't take that away from me.'_ He sighed and ran a hand over his face,

"Alright, I'll make a deal with you. You're not allowed off the ship until your vocal chords are completely healed. That should take what four to five months? When Bones clears you I'll allow you to go on some of the away missions. But you're not allowed to rush the healing process either. And Sulu and Spock will train you, help refine those street fighting skills." I grinned,

'_Deal.'_

"Jim you can't be serious. She could get killed out there if a bounty hunter is waiting for her on one of the planets."

"I concur with Doctor McCoy. We do not need to put her in harms way when there is-"

"Spock, Bones we can't just keep her here on the ship. And besides, would we really do this for anyone else or is Amaya special?" Both men fell silent, "That's what I thought. She's special to us because she's part of our little family. And we want to try and protect her from those that would harm her. Now yes I believe in protecting her, but I also believe in letting her do her job. Admiral?" All eyes were on Pike as he gave a small smile,

"Boys, Kirk's right. You can protect her but you also need to let her live her life and do her job." Spock looked at me and I could see the emotion in his eyes,

'_I do not wish to see you harmed again. Amaya… please.'_

'_Spock, I don't like causing you pain like this, but I have to do this. I can't just put my life on hold because somebody wants me dead. Spock, remember you can't always protect me. But you can teach me to protect myself like you can.' _There was still pain in his eyes but there was understanding as well,

"Very well." His voice was but a whisper and yet it echoed in the silent room,

"Spock you can't be serious! This is Amaya! I won't let her put herself in harms way! She's like my sister! And I would never put my sister in harms way! And you!" He pointed at Spock, "You love her! How can you let the woman you love put herself in a position where she could get herself killed!" Spock took a deep breathe before replying very calmly,

"Because she will not be alone. As the Captain pointed out earlier she may call out to me whenever she wishes. I will train her in all of the defensive and offensive training I possess." He looked at me, "But I must trust that she is strong enough to protect herself." I smiled at him,

'_Thank you.'_ Leo slumped in his seat and mumbled something about pointy eared and green blooded hobgoblin,

"I don't like it, but I don't have a choice do I?" Pike chuckled a bit,

"Not with Amaya you don't." And so it was set. We got down to the finer details of things before deciding to call it a day. Spock and I were getting ready to head out when Pike stopped us. Jim and Leo left leaving Pike, Spock, and I alone. He looked at me then at Spock. "So about what McCoy said…" He looked at Spock then to me, but when neither one of us finished his thought he continued, "about you loving her. Care to… elaborate on that?" I looked at Spock,

'_Shall we get it over with?' _He nodded his head before turning back to Pike,

"If you are inquiring as to whether or not we are together then the answer is yes. We are." Pike had a stern sort of look on his face. Like when a father meets his daughter's boyfriend for the first time.

"And, ah, how long has this been going on?"

"That depends, sir." A frown crossed his face,

"What do you mean 'That depends'?" Spock looked toward me silently asking if it's alright to continue. I nodded,

"What I mean is that Amaya and I are not simply together. We are bonded." That was when Pike's stoic look dropped. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Clearly this was the last thing he expected,

"Come again?" Spock looked him straight in the eye as though he were speaking to his own father. His father. Oh no, that was a whole other issue we had to deal with.

"Amaya and I have bonded to one another. Our minds are connected." Pike stared at him,

"Basically what you're telling me is that you're already engaged to my Goddaughter. Do I understand this correctly?"

"In a sense yes, but as you know it is far more complex than that."

"Well you better simplify it. And fast."

"When we decide to meld our minds we will be what you humans would consider married. We will be parted from each other but never parted, never and always touching and touched. Vulcan's create a much deeper bond with their mate as the year's progress. Amaya and I have created such a bond in merely a matter of months." Pike ran a hand across his face,

"This is almost as bad as having you tell me she's pregnant." Spock raised an eyebrow at him and fear crossed Pike's face, "You're not pregnant are you?" I grinned and shook my head no. I took hold of his hand,

'_No, now relax. Go easy on Spock. He's a good man and you know it.'_

'_But bonded?'_

'_What were you expecting?"_

'_Courting! Dating! Whatever you want to call it. I just didn't expect you to get engaged. You've only known him for a few months, and you're only eighteen.'_

'_Well in a way we did "date" as the bond was being created. Yes I know I'm eighteen, I'll be nineteen in two months, and you know that age has nothing to do with this. You know Vulcan's are deeply passionate beings. Bonding's not something that's taken lightly. Yes we sort of stumbled into the bond but we both knew there was a risk to it and we both didn't really care. He cares for me. And I care about him.' _Pike looked at his feet and I took my free hand and lifted his chin, _'I care about you too. And I'd like your approval on this.'_ He smiled at me,

'_How could I say no to you? Besides, you're right Spock is a good man. And I know he'll take good care of you.'_ He pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead before turning to Spock, clapping him on the shoulder, "Well Spock, I'm must admit I hadn't seen this coming, but I'm glad that it's you. Take good care of her and love her. She's a beautiful young woman." Spock stared me straight in the eye,

"Indeed, she is very beautiful." I was blushing. I knew I was because my face grew hot. Pike laughed,

"Well, I think I'll retire for the night. I'll see you both in the morning." With that he left leaving Spock and I alone in the room. I ducked my head to hide my blush but Spock closed the space between us and lifted my chin so my eyes met his,

'_Why do you hide your face from me?'_

'_You called me beautiful.'_

'_Indeed I did, but why hide your face?'_

'_No one has ever called me that before. I do not think myself to be beautiful like you believe I am.' _ He placed his forehead against mine and took hold of both of my hands while closing our eyes,

'_But you are. You have what my mother would call "a good heart" and that makes you beautiful. Your smile is beautiful. Your hair is beautiful. Your eyes are beautiful.'_

'_Most are scared of my eyes.'_

'_They are beautiful. Do you know why?'_

'_No.'_

'_Because they remind me of the night sky. They are dark and there is a vastness to them that I find myself getting lost in. Everything about you is beautiful to me.'_ I felt my heart melting. He was being so human with me. He was allowing himself to feel. And he was feeling… for me.

'_Spock, I… I don't know what to say. I'm at a loss for words. You continue to amaze me and show me the kind of love that no one has ever showed me before.' _He let go of one of my hands and I felt him run it through my hair,

'_It's easier to be human around you. Just as you make it easy to be Vulcan. With you the constant war inside of me between human and Vulcan seems to calm and I can breathe.' _

'_Just as you make it easy for me to be both human and Betazoid. We are two of a kind you and I.'_ He gently kissed me and I kissed him back. I've come to realize it's possible to love with such passion and be loved in return with an equal passion. This was something new to me, and I enjoyed it.


	11. The gang's all here

Again I must thank those of you who've reviewed, favorite, and followed. Please again I ask that you review, I really want to know what you think. I love feedback and want to know that I'm going in the right direction and I enjoy knowing what your favorite parts are. So please review and enjoy this next chapter.

Over the next month things had progressed rather well. I had gotten used to seeing the security guards on every floor and my voice lessons were coming along nicely. Spock spent every afternoon with me practicing. I couldn't speak much, just a few words here and there but not full sentences. I smiled when I thought about the first word I had said.

_We had been practicing for an hour and I had still yet to say anything. I had managed a few letters like 'S', 'A', 'O' 'L' and so on and so forth but nothing more. I struggled with letters like 'Q', 'X', and 'T' but still some was better than none. I wanted to say one word. Just one. Any word would've done really. _

"_I think that is enough for today. You must not strain your voice."_

'_Please, just a little longer. I think I've almost got it. Please?' He gave me a small smile and I knew he'd said yes. I closed my eyes and tried again, "S-s-s…" I took a deep breath and tried again, "S-s-sp-sp…" I was frustrated at how hard it was to try and speak but I wanted to speak so badly, "Sp-sp-sp-ock. Sp-ock." I licked my lips and took another breath, "Spock." I opened my eyes to see Spock smiling at me._

Leo laughed when he heard what my first word was. He said something along the lines of, "Of course it'd be the green blooded hobgoblin's name as your first word." Now I was able to say all of my friend's names and a few others as well. I was allowed to go back to engineering when I was able to say "Scotty", "Keenser", "Engineering", and "Help". The last one being the most important to Leo. Spock continued to teach me on how to improve my fighting skills while Sulu continued to spar with me. I was even allowed to go on two away missions. We had no problems and everything went smoothly. I was currently on my way to Sick Bay to help Leo label and organize a whole new shipment of medicine. There hadn't been anything to really do in engineering so when Leo called asking if I could be sparred he said yes. When I arrived I saw that the Sick Bay was crowded with containers,

"Leo." He made his way through the mess towards me,

"Amaya, glad they didn't need you in engineering. We have a lot to get through and I need some who's not incompetent." I laughed, "You and Chapel are the only sane medical personal I have." He pulled me into the next room where Chapel was surrounded by opened containers and bottles of all kinds of medicine. Liquids, pills, and creams. She looked up and smiled when she saw me,

"Am I glad you're here. He's been driving me crazy." Leo growled at her,

"Well that goes the same for you sister. She'll tell you what you need to do." He grumbled, scowled, and cursed as he walked out of the room. I looked at her and she shook her head with a laugh. We both knew he didn't mean any of it and always found it amusing when he was grumpy. I went over and sat down next to her.

"Christine." She patted my shoulder,

"You'll get there. Don't hurt yourself by trying to speak. So here's what we need to do." As she began to show me what needed to be done I became aware of the fact that there was far more to do than I had originally thought. Each bottle had to be labeled properly, put into the system, and then stored correctly. Leo's idea of stored correctly however required many things. All the medicine had to be categorized like burn medication, sedatives, flu, shingles, laryngitis, etc. and then it had to be alphabetized. So for the next four hours we sat there and went through almost seventy containers worth of medication. And there were still at least fifty more waiting for us in the other room. The whole time we talked, more like she talked and I would nod and occasionally take hold of her hand to make a reply. I liked Christine. She was fun and lighthearted and wasn't afraid of Leo and his temper. In fact there were numerous occasions where she would put him in his place. I loved it! She was like the sister I never had. She was the second friend I had made onboard this ship that was a woman. And it made me happy that she and Nyota got on rather well. Nyota decided that it was time to plan another girl's night and this time it would be in her quarters and Christine was joining us as well. Christine told me about how she was planning on bringing her flat iron and that was going to straighten my hair for me. I had told her that I had never straightened my hair before and she immediately volunteered to do so. I wondered what Spock would make of my hair being straight. Would he like it? I knew the Vulcan side of him would not see the point of changing my hair style nor the reason as to why he should care about it. But I wondered what the human side of him would think. I knew he would have an opinion of which way he liked it best and I was curious.

Spock and I's relationship had grown over the last month. We had yet meld our minds but our bond had grown much stronger. We could tell when the other was near or when something was wrong. It was something that had gotten used to fast. We still had yet to tell his father about us and when I asked him what his father would think he told me that at first he would not understand but then once we had explained who and what I was that he would understand and accept it. I was still worried though. I was not only meeting Spock's father but the ambassador as well. That just made it all the more unnerving and terrifying. I had heard at how great of an ambassador Sarek was and how important he was. I only hope that Spock and I's relationship doesn't reflect poorly on him.

I was brought out of my musings though when the red alert came on. Christine and I looked at each other before she jumped up and grabbed my hand, pulling me to Leo's office. Once we got there she pulled me in and shut the door behind her. She went to his desk and pulled out a phaser. I watched as she set it to kill then she handed it to me,

"Don't say anything until McCoy or I come to get you. Got it?"

"Yes." She nodded her head and shut the door, locking it from the outside. I felt my heart pound in my chest. In my head I was saying that it was nothing, just Romulan's or klingon's. But a part of me knew that it could be a bounty hunter. That was why Christine had locked me in here. Leo had it planned out in case I was on this floor this was where I was supposed to go. The ship lurched and I knew we were under attack. The ship lurched a few more times and then nothing. The ship stopped lurching and everything was quiet except for the alert. I don't know how long I sat there holding my breath before a voice came over the ships com,

"Enterprise, give us what we want and we might let you live." That voice, it sounded hard and rough. And yet it sounded familiar as well.

"Whatever you want we don't have, and even if we did what makes you think I'd just give it you?"

"I thought my threat was clear enough, as well as my display of how much more powerful my ship is compared to yours. Don't be a fool Kirk. Fools don't last long where I come from." My eyes went wide. I knew that voice, and I knew that saying. I rushed to the door and tried desperately to get the door open,

"Christine!" I shouted, "Leo!" I kept shouting their names, hoping that someone would hear me. It hurt to shout but I had to get out of here.

"I may be a fool but not when it comes to the lives of my crew." The man laughed,

"Kirk, you are a greater fool than you'll ever know. There are those aboard your ship that would see it burn, I know your kind Kirk."

"And what kind am I?" I stood back and pointed my phaser at the handle. I blasted it and it opened. I took off out of Sick Bay and down the hall, right past Leo.

"Amaya! Where are you going?" He was right behind me. I ran to the turbo lift and he ran in right behind me,

"Bridge!"

"Amaya what's going on? You should be in my office in Sick Bay, neither Christine nor I let you out. It's not safe-"

"I… know…that…voice." My throat hurt so much but I needed to speak. Of all the times to not have my voice working properly. He furrowed his brow,

"What? How? Amaya, you still-" The doors opened and I rushed out onto the bridge. No one noticed us as all eyes were on the screen,

"The kind that thinks himself better than those around him, the kind that play the noble hero but only want to impress. Everyone else's life is worth less than yours." Jim had a hard look on his face,

"What is it you want?" I walked over to where Nyota was. My blood boiled at the sight of the man on the screen. He was older, about twenty seven I'd say. He had a scar across his right cheek that clashed with the painting on the right side of his face. He glanced behind Jim to me and smiled,

"Her." All eyes fell on me. I didn't look at any of them, only him. I didn't smile, instead I mirrored the hard look that Jim had on his face. I walked forward until I was between Sulu and Chekov.

"Leon." He grinned at me,

"You remember me. That's good Amaya. I have a proposition for you." Jim stepped forward and took hold of my arm pulling me back,

"This is my ship, you'll deal with me, not her." Leon laughed,

"Captain this no longer concerns you, this is a… family matter."

"You… are not… my family." He grinned,

"Having a little trouble speaking? Did someone burn your throat?" He talked to be like I was a child and he knew what had happened. I don't know how but he knew.

"Why… are you… here." My throat still hurt but I had grown used to the pain by now. Spock was behind me. I sensed he was there and I could hear him calling out to me but I was too angry with Leon at the moment.

"Why, for you of course." Just then a woman came on screen. She was older as well but her mottled greenish skin gave her away,

"Amaya, it would be wise to do as he says. Unless of course you want to risk the lives of your… friends."

"Kathliana." She gave me the same evil grin that Leon had,

"Are you surprised I'm still alive?"

"I'm… surprised… you haven't… killed… each other." She laughed,

"Why would I want to kill him? He is my husband after all." Now it was my turn to laugh. I hadn't even meant to but I couldn't hold it back. The others looked at me with worry and it rolled off of Spock in waves,

"You… married her?" I continued to laugh, "You… hated… her." Leon frowned at me, most likely upset that I was laughing at him. Kathlina glared at me,

"Shut up you worthless half breed!" My laughing began to die down. Spock's anger flared at the thought of someone calling me a half breed. He came up next to me and I looked at him and saw the anger in his eyes. I took hold of his arm,

'_It's alright. She's always called me that. It means nothing coming from her.'_

'_How can you say that? She insults who and what you are?'_

'_She insults me because she is weak minded. She has always had a short fuse.'_ I tried to send him calm vibes but I was still angry and he knew that. I took my hand off of his arm and looked back at the pair on the screen. I smirked at her and took a dramatic bow,

"Yes… your majesty." Her face flushed making her skin an ugly greenish-reddish color,

"You insolent little-"

"Enough!" Leon gave a sharp look to Kathliana, "Leave us." She glared at me,

"When I get hold of you, I'm going to do what I should've done a long time ago."

"I… look forward… to it… ice queen." She went to open her mouth when Leon shouted,

"Leave! Now!" And she did. When he turned back to me he chuckled, "After all these years you two pick up right where you left off. Throwing insults and soon enough I'm sure you'll be exchanging punches again as well."

"Why… are you…here?" I asked him again,

"There's a bounty on your head Amaya, though I'm sure you knew that already."

"You here… to collect?" Even though my speech wasn't good my voice held a hardness to it that hadn't been used in a long time. He smirked at me,

"Possibly, it depends on you Amaya. And what you decide to do."

"Explain."

"You have a choice. Come aboard our ship on your own accord and I will spare the Enterprise. If you don't, well, we'll come aboard anyway and take you then destroy the ship on our way out."

"Then… you'll kill me."

"No, not kill you. Though I do think Kathliana will want to torture you. Oh, and as an incentive in case destroying the Enterprise and her crew isn't enough, I have a friend here who would like to see you." He pressed a button and a new image was brought up. In biocuffs, beaten, bloody, and bruised was Triskro. His skin seemed paler and the bruises looked even uglier on his skin. His normally shinny light purple hair was dull and blood was caked in it. He looked so skinny, so weak.

"Triskro." The image changed and Leon was back, "Why… what did… he do… for you to… hurt him?" He laughed at me,

"Kathliana's idea really. She knew you'd have a soft spot for your fellow half breed and he refused to take part in this operation."

"You never… used to…-"

"Hate half breeds? True, back then I had no problem with them. But now… I see that I was wrong. Half breeds are not meant to be trusted. You have no loyalty."

"You're wrong… and you… know it." His faced flushed red with anger,

"A half breed is why Jarek and Maria are dead!" He stopped and composed himself. My heart sank. Jarek and Maria… dead?

"How?" he thought about it and for a moment I saw the old Leon looking back at me,

"A tale for another time… Besides, you owe me." I sighed, he was right.

"I know."

"So you'll come aboard with no problems?" I opened my mouth to reply when a hand cover my mouth. It was Jim,

"Give us three hours."

"Half an hour."

"An hour." He paused,

"You have one hour." The image disappeared from the screen and Jim let go,

"Are you crazy?!" Leo joined in,

"What the hell were you trying to do? Get yourself killed?" Nyota gave me a worried look,

"You're not thinking of going with them are you?"

"Who were they?" Everyone was talking at once before Spock silenced them,

"**Enough**." Everyone stopped. Jim looked at me,

"Amaya who were they?"

"They're… from the past… we… were all… part of… a gang… in Ireland."

"Jim, she needs to rest her voice she-"

"Leo… I need… to do this… I'll be… fine. We were… made up… of aliens… humanoids… and half breeds… as Kathliana… calls us." Jim sighed,

"How'd they find you?" I shrugged,

"Leon… is smart… he knows… where to look… who to ask."

"What about this Kathliana?" I turned to Spock,

"She hates… me and I… don't care… for her… either."

"You're not going over there."

"Jim… I have… to go… Leon… doesn't make… idle threats… he will… kill you." I looked at Spock and saw the anger and sadness in his eyes, "And I… can't allow… that."

"And I'm the Captain, and I order you to stay here."

"I can't… let you all… die… for me… I can't… let Trikro… die for me… either."

"Who was he anyway?"

"Half… Orion… half… human… he was… part of… the gang."

"Who are Jarek and Maria?" A sad smile crossed my face,

"Jarek… a Hupyrian… and Maria… a Changeling." Jim nodded,

"Also members of the gang?" I nodded,

"We… were all… friends…I left… I never knew… what… happened." Jim put a hand on my shoulder,

"We'll find a way out of this. I promise. But you are not going aboard that ship." I sighed,

"Alright." He nodded his head.

"Bones, take her to her room and stay with her." Leo and I made our way to the turbo lift with Spock right behind us. Leo entered the lift and held it for me as I turned toward him. I gave him a small smiled before pulling him to me and kissing him hard on the lips. He kissed me back with just as much force. When I pulled back I kissed him softly once more before uttering one word,

"Sorry." And with that I pushed him back and stepped in the lift, the doors shut behind me. I turned to Leo and grabbed a hypospray from his person and stuck him with it.

"Amaya what are you… doing…" He started get sleepy and I gently laid him on the floor,

"The code… to my… door."

"Yeah." He was still partially awake,

"It's the… name of… the first friend… I made…"

"And who's that?" His words were slurred and he was starting to go,

"You…McCoy."

"Amaya…" and with that he was gone.

"Transporter… Room." The lift went down a few more levels before stopping.

"Attention all personal! If you come across Lieutenant Amaya O'Callaghan stop her before she gets to the transporter room!" I ran down the hall past people and heard my name called out by a few. Some ahead of me tried to stop me but thankfully I paid attention to what Sulu and Spock taught me. When I got the transporter room Scotty and an ensign were there. I quickly knocked out the ensign.

"Amaya! You need to-" I knocked Scotty over the head before he could finish and he fell to the ground,

"So sorry… Scotty… so sorry…" I pushed a few buttons on the console and ran up onto the pad. I heard Spock in my mind calling my name,

'_Amaya please don't do this.'_

'_I'm sorry Spock, I won't let you and the others die because of me.'_

'_Amaya-'_ I heard the transporter hum and knew I was going to be transported in a moment

'_I love you Spock.'_ And then I was gone from the Enterprise and I was now face to face with Leon and Kathliana.

"Hello Amaya, welcome back to the gang." Before I knew what was happening Kathliana took the end of her gun and knocked me on the head with it, leaving me unconscious on the ground.


	12. While you were gone

As soon as Amaya had pushed Spock back from the lift he knew what she was going to do.

"Captain!" Spock looked to Jim, who was already running to his chair,

"I know Spock! I know!" He pressed the com button on his chair, "Attention all personal! If you come across Lieutenant Amaya O'Callaghan stop her before she gets to the transporter room!" He turned to Spock, "Let's go. Sulu you have the con." When Jim and Spock got on the turbo lift they found McCoy passed out on the floor. Jim leaned down and checked his pulse before picking up the empty hypo, "She sedated him. She might already be in the transporter room. Spock call to her, try to get her to stay." Spock nodded; he didn't need to be told twice. The moment the door opened he ran for the transporter room. He was half way there when he got a response,

'_Amaya please don't do this.'_

'_I'm sorry Spock, I won't let you and the others die because of me.'_

'_Amaya-'_ He rounded the corner and bolted straight for the transporter room,

'_I love you Spock.'_ Then she was gone. He ran into the transporter room to find her no where in sight. He stood there breathing hard. He couldn't breathe. Not from running but from the fact that she might have just gotten herself killed. His heart hurt so much it was unbearable. He sunk to his knees, the human side of him screaming out in agony and the Vulcan half aching just as well. The warmth he felt with her presence was gone. He couldn't hear or feel her in his mind. He felt so alone without her. Just then Jim came in the room. He cursed when he saw that it was empty. His heart broke though at the sight before him. The normally emotionless and logical Vulcan that was Spock was on his knees, his hands clenched tightly, fingers digging into his palms causing his knuckles to turn white and green blood to drip out of his grip. Jim called up to the bridge,

"Sulu, follow that ship. Whatever you don't lose it!"

"Aye Captain." Jim turned back to Spock and knelt down beside him. "Spock." He didn't respond. His face bared all his feelings. Jim wasn't sure what to do. He knew how much Amaya meant to him, he had always known that they were together, even before they did. He had sort of figured out that they were bonded, and when the Margoth incident occurred it only confirmed his suspicions. "Spock, we need to go back to the bridge. We're going to get her back. I promise, we **will** get her back." Spock finally looked at him. He looked at him straight in the eye,

"Jim… I… I feel… angry and…" Spock didn't know **how** to talk to Jim about stuff like this, he always talked to Amaya about it because she understood him so well, but he knew he **could** talk to Jim it was just getting his feelings into words. Jim had matured a lot since the Nero incident and the two had become friends without actually stating it out loud.

"You're in a lot of pain Spock, the woman you love was just put in danger and there's nothing you can do about it. But Spock when the time comes you'll get your chance. Not only to get her back, but to make them pay for it as well. I guarantee you that chance. Now come on, your hands need to be bandaged then I need you on the bridge." Spock nodded and Jim pulled him up. He lead Spock to Sick Bay, leaving him in Christine's hands before heading back to the bridge. Spock was void of everything at the moment except for the deep pain that filled him. Scotty was passed out on the bed the other side of him. Doctor McCoy was just waking up when he noticed Spock on the biobed next him. He groaned, sat up and rubbed his head,

"I must've hit my head pretty hard. I thought Amaya had…" One clear look at Spock and he knew. He swore, "So it wasn't a dream. She really did go over to that blasted ship." He sighed then slammed his fist on the bed. He looked at Spock again and noticed his hands. He didn't say anything as he grabbed some bandages and a hypo. He stuck the hypo into Spock's neck, he didn't even blink, then began to wrap his hands. He glanced up at him and saw that the pain was evident in his eyes. His face was void of all emotion, it was different though from the emotionless mask he always wore. No this was something much worse. This was the look of a man who just lost the love of his life. McCoy felt bad for Spock, they didn't agree on a lot of things but he truly loved Amaya and cared deeply for her. "We'll get 'em Spock. We'll get her back." He looked up into McCoy's face and saw the anger and sorrow that was behind the good Doctor's eyes. He too wanted her back, almost as much as he did. Spock merely nodded his head and left for the bridge. He didn't trust his voice to hold up. McCoy sighed as he watched Spock leave. He turned around and kicked one of the biobeds before pounding his fist against the wall. He was angry and upset. The woman he considered his sister had just signed her own death warrant. As he was pounding the wall he felt tears come to his eyes. He didn't normally cry but this time… this time was different. He didn't stop pounding the wall until he felt someone pull on his arm. He turned to find Christine holding him back. He took one look at her face before he broke down, crying into her shoulder. He held her tightly as he sobbed. They were both hurting and Christine knew how much Amaya meant to him,

"This wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to keep her safe. I was supposed to keep her safe." Christine felt tears well in her eyes,

"She's a stubborn woman, she would've found a way."

"When I first met her, she told me the code to her quarters, 62269, said it was a name. I could never figure it out. When she sedated me, she finally told me." He sobbed harder and Christine bit her lip to keep from sobbing as well,

"What was it?"

"She said it was the first friend she made here, McCoy! Me! It was my name!" He sobbed more and Christine could barely hold it in,

"It'll be alright. She'll be back, you'll see." Alone in the Sick Bay McCoy let someone else besides Amaya see the softer more vulnerable side of him.

When Spock reached the bridge he found the captain cursing and pounding his fist on his chair,

"She's accelerating into warp seven sir, warp eight, we're losing her, warp nine. Sir, we just lost her." He cursed,

"Find it, now!" Chekov furiously pressed some buttons,

"I'm sorry Captain, she's gone." Spock's blood ran cold as Jim cursed again. He turned toward Spock with sorrowful eyes,

"We lost them." Spock looked down to the floor, unable to look at anyone for fear of losing what little control he had on his emotions.

"Wait! What about the tracking device you put in her neck?" Spock's eyes shot up to Uhura, hope was stirring in him. Jim smirked,

"Uhura, you are brilliant! Mr. Spock, can you give me her coordinates?" Spock quickly crossed the room to his station and pressed a few buttons bringing up her current location.

"Captain, they appear to be headed on course for the Klingon Empire."

"Mr. Chekov, lay in a course for the Klingon Empire."

"Aye Captain."

"Spock, how long until they get there."

"Four days. And we will arrive in six. Crossing into their territory is a dangerous move Captain, the Federation will not approve of it."

"And do you care about what the Federation thinks Mr. Spock?" Spock looked at him with raised eyebrows,

"No, not in the least. I was merely making you aware of the situation." Jim smirked at him again,

"I am aware Mr. Spock. Now the question is, do you want to tell the Admiral about this or should I?"

Three hours later Spock and Jim stood in front of the main viewing screen. They agreed on telling him together. When they first broke the new Pike merely stared at them. They weren't sure if he was alright or not until he swore and ran a hand over his face. He demanded to know how it happened and Jim told him of their superior fire power and Spock elaborated on their connection to Amaya. Jim told him of Amaya's escape and Pike watched Spock's face the whole time. Spock wouldn't look at him. He stared at the floor and his posture was tense. Pike could see every muscle in his body was tense. He noticed the concerned glances that Jim would give him and finally decided to say something,

"Spock." He didn't look up, "Spock, look at me." Spock slowly raised his head until he was staring right at Pike. Pike saw the anguish and pain in Spock's eyes, he saw the void look on his face. He knew that he was pain and tried to soften it, "Son, there was no way you could've stopped her. She's a determined woman, she would've found way. She values the lives of others far more than she values her own."

"Sir… I have failed you." Pike shook his head,

"No, you couldn't-"

"I swore to you that I would protect her. And instead I have let her hand herself over to be subjected to torture and death. I have failed not only you but myself as well. And most of all, I have failed her. I do not see myself fit to continue until this matter is resolved." Pike shook his head,

"You're not to blame, and I reject your request to not continue. There's no one more qualified to find her than you. You and the others are her friends. I know you won't stop until you find her. And I don't even want to know what you have planned because it's most likely against Federation laws and codes. But I say go for it anyway. Keep me updated. Pike out." The screen shut off leaving Spock and Jim alone. Jim turned to him,

"Let's go Spock, we've got to prepare for whatever's to come." Pike didn't know what they had planned but as long as they got Amaya back he didn't care. He knew how close she had gotten to the crew of the Enterprise. He knew how close she was to Spock, McCoy, and Scotty. They had the best chance and the most drive to find her. He put all his trust into them. May God help them, because Pike would make a deal with the devil to get her back.


	13. Grudges and fights go hand in hand

I'm sorry I haven't updated in over a week. I've been very busy this week and I only just got the chance today to write this chapter. I love the reviews so please keep reviewing. Reviews make me want to update faster and write longer chapters. I hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you think.

I groaned, my head was killing me. I felt stiff on the cold, hard floor. When I opened my eyes I knew that it wasn't a dream, I was no longer on the Enterprise. I looked around to see that I was a holding cell. It wasn't clean and seemed very dingy. I heard a small groan and whipped my head around to see what made the noise. I winced at the sudden movement but forgot about it when I saw who had made the noise.

"Trikro!" I crawled over to his limp form and rolled him over. He was paler and looked terrible. I took hold of his hand, _'Oh Triskro, what have they done to you.'_ His eyes fluttered open a bit,

"Amaya, oh I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry you got caught up in this." I brushed some hair out of his face. I knew he was in pain and tried to send him peaceful vibes to help ease the pain,

'_What happened? Leon was never this mean and cold when I left.'_ I felt sorrow roll off of him,

"No, no he hasn't always been this way. It wasn't until after Jarek and Maria were killed."

'_Please, tell me what happened. Please?'_ he sighed,

"Alright, you deserve to know. You were part of the family. You see, we were infiltrating one of the Rebel Dogs supply storage units. We had all the bases covered. Maria and Leon were going to go in with passes and uniforms. Jarek and Kathliana were going to get in through the back and I was driving the getaway car. Leah, the Klingon half breed, she… she was in charge of making sure security was off line. She gave us the go and when Jarek and Kathliana went in the back the alarms went off. Jarek was killed instantly. Maria… well she got shot in the shoulder on the way out. She bled out before we could get help." Tears rolled down my cheeks. It may have been a gang but they were my friends and family at the time. "Kathiana killed Leah as compensation. That's how Leon got that scar on his cheek. He became bitter, and Kathliana fed him hate and anger. He began to hate all halfbreeds. And then the last few years he's even looked at me with disgust and loathing in his eyes."

'_When did those two get married? They hated each other!' _He laughed which turned into a cough,

"Yeah, never saw that one coming actually. It was about four years ago. It's not even a normal marriage. The only reason they got married was because they needed one another's hate and anger. Amaya… you shouldn't have come."

'_Triskro, I couldn't let them hurt you or those on the Enterprise.'_ He grasped my hand tightly,

"She will kill you. You know that, Leon thinks he can keep you alive and still appease her by letting her torture you but we both know that won't happen. We both know she's out for blood." I nodded my head, "You should've stayed on your starship. At least then you would've died among real friends. And not at the hands of traitors." Iran my hand through his hair,

'_Oh Triskro, you are my friend. And so are the others, even if they don't want to be. I still care for them… well except Kathliana. I don't really care for her at all. Besides, I couldn't let my friends on the Enterprise die. They mean too much.'_

"To you. They mean too much… to you." He smiled at me, "You found a new and better family on the Enterprise didn't you?" I chuckled and nodded,

'_The humans on that ship accept me and don't look at me like a freak or eye me with suspicion. There's a Vulcan on board too. Well, he's half Vulcan but he understands me and how I feel.' _He grinned,

"You're in love. With this half Vulcan fellow. I'm happy for you. You always deserved somebody special." He coughed violently and when he pulled back his hand it was covered in blood, "What's his name?" I smiled at him,

'_Spock. He's very logical and suppresses his emotions, and yet he's learning to embrace his human side as well.'_

"Well, you do that to people you know. Bring out the best in them. You always have." I brushed some of his hair out of his face and kissed his forehead,

'_Sleep, you need to rest. Sleep…'_ I calmed his nerves as I ran my hand across his cheek and his eyes drifted shut. I sighed, in the condition he was in it wouldn't be long before he passed. A few more days I would think unless he got help soon. I loved Triskro like a younger brother. And it broke my heart to see him in so much pain. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I held him to me. I prayed that Triskro would get help and that the Enterprise was safe.

A few hours later Kathliana came and got me. I stood and merely held my hands in front of me. She smirked,

"We still have a score to settle." She grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the cell. She threw me to the ground and I groaned when her foot met my stomach. I clenched my fists as I stood and I swung at her before she could blink. I hit her jaw sending her back a bit. Her eyes flare with anger and she charged me. There was no dodging it so I prepared myself for the impact. She hit me full force and I latched onto her. I swung my foot and took out her legs. She crashed to the ground and I immediately put her into a head lock. She went to flip me over her back and I pulled back making her body bend backwards so she couldn't flip me. I was winning,

"Not… as weak anymore… am I?" She growled and I felt a blast of pain in my back making me release her and fall onto my knees. She took this opportunity to kick me in the face knocking me back.

"Enough!" I looked up from my place on the floor and saw Leon with some sort of blaster in his hand. So he was the one who shot me. "Well it likes your fighting skill **have** improved since your last brawl with Kathlina."

"I… was taught… by the best." He chuckled,

"Probably from the Vulcan on board." My shoulders tensed some, "He did seem rather… concerned about you. Which leads me to believe two things. One that he is only **half** Vulcan, and I'm assuming the other half is human?" He was waiting for me to answer him but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of an answer. His smiled fell and he grabbed me the collar of my shirt, "If you don't answer me," He held the blaster up to the sleeping Triskro, "I'll kill him." I glared at him. He knew I wouldn't sacrifice Triskro over an answer,

"Yes… his other half… is human." He smiled again,

"And two is that you love him. Am I right?" I nodded, "Now tell me, did you tell the half breed Vulcan this before you left?" I glared at him and kneed him in the stomach making him drop me. I took this moment to grab him by the shirt and I slammed him against the wall,

"His name is Spock… not… half breed." He smiled darkly at me as Kathlina yanked me off of Leon,

"You never answered my question. I knew you loved him because you held onto his arm when Kathlina called you a half breed. The look you gave him. It said it all. Now tell me did you ever tell him that you loved him?" I growled at him and Kathlina punched me in the stomach,

"Answer him!"

"Yes… I told him." Leon grinned,

"And what did… Spock say when you told him that you loved him? Hm?" I smirked at him this time and I stood a bit taller. I merely stared at him. His smile fell for a moment before he covered it up with a laugh, "He told you he loved you?" He laughed harder this time, "The emotionless Vulcan and the emotional Betazoid! I'm surprised that he even gave you the time of day!" I glared at him,

"No… you're surprised that… anybody would… love a half human half… Betazoid… because of my eyes and… abilities… it's what… scared you after all." His laughter ceased and he glared at me, "Spock… will not… stop until he… finds me… dead or alive… and when he finds… you he'll… tear you to… pieces… there's nothing scarier… than an emotionally compromised… Vulcan… and all of his… anger will be focused… on you." He scoffed at me and I grinned, "You won't… live through it… he'll kill you." Leon fell silent. No smile, frown, or smirk. He just stared at me. Kathlina smacked me again,

"Shut up half breed. Leon can handle **any** half breed. Including your little Vulcan boyfriend." I spit some blood out and smirked at her,

"Fiancé… in fact." Leon's mask fell and something like shock and hurt crossed his face and I felt both of them strongly. "Did you honestly… think that I… wouldn't move on?" Leon just stared at me, "When you… broke it off… I moved on… and I found… someone better." Leon and I had dated for about three months while I was with the gang but he said that it just wasn't working out. That we were two different species and that could never work. "We're two… different species… and we're quite… compatible together." I knew I hit a nerve by throwing that back in his face and frankly I didn't care.

"Kathlina, you have twenty minutes with her. Then you'll put her in her holding cell and join me on the bridge." She grinned and he walked away, "Oh and remember, you are **not **allowed to kill her." She grumbled as he continued to walk away,

"I may not be allowed to kill you… yet, but I can inflict enough pain to make you wish you **were** dead." And boy was she right. Twenty minutes felt like eternity. At first I fought back but there came a point where I was just too weak and I just took the beatings. When she finished she threw me back in the cell with Triskro. I didn't have the strength to move let alone open my eyes. So I just lied there and slipped back into unconsciousness.

When I woke I found that a little bit of my strength had returned. It was enough for me to be able to sit up and pull myself over next to Triskro. He looked terrible. There were fresh bruises and cuts all over him. He was barely awake,

"Leon… came back. I was awake, so I became his target."

'_How long was I out?'_

"Almost five hours." He coughed and held up his arm. His hand was swollen and looked more purple than it did green, "I think I broke it." I gently took hold of his hand and kissed it.

'_Where are we headed?'_

"That's interesting part. Leon wants to take us to slave trader's planet. Sell me off and then sell you to the person who's offering the bounty on you. Kathlina wants to take us to a planet where the scum of the universe come together to watch slaves, captives, runaways, and criminals fight to death in an arena."

'_What about the bounty?' _

"She says she could care less about the bounty. She said they could just collect your body after the match."

'_We're too weak to fight.'_

"This place has medics that fix you up for the next match. They'll fix us up before they send us out. The only reason you're alive now is because Leon still likes you… When you left he was miserable. He wouldn't admit it but he still liked you."

'_So this? This is his way of punishing me for leaving is it?'_

"No, if he can't have you then no one will."

'_We'd have a better chance in the arena.'_ He nodded,

"We'll get fixed up. And maybe your friends on that starship will save us before we get killed." I didn't tell him that I thought they'd never find us. He needed hope to live.

'_We'll get out of this. You'll see. You and me. Like the old days when we'd be the recon team.'_

"Yeah, like the good old days." There were footsteps and Kathliana grinned at us,

"In two hours we land on a planet at the edge of this galaxy where you'll be put into the areana. We'll see just how much that Vulcan half breed fiancé of yours taught you." She walked away and Triskro sighed,

"Like the old days. You and me."

'_Against the world.'_ I knew just how terrible arena deaths were and I was thankful that Spock wouldn't have to see it. See what would probably be a very gruesome death. I felt a tear fall down my cheek. I would never see Spock or the others again. Remember that they're safe though. Just remember that they're alive. Remember. I fell asleep again remembering all the wonderful times I had with Spock and the others on the Enterprise. The last peaceful moments of my life.


	14. Breaking in

The crew from the bridge were mainly silent at lunch. No one wanted to eat and no one wanted to talk. Everyone picked at their food or stared at it. It had been almost two days since Amaya had disappeared. Everyone was restless and upset. Especially Spock. The longer she was gone the worse he got. He was losing his grip on his emotions and often showed anger and sorrow. And for the first time McCoy saw the Vulcan look… tired. No one dared try to talk to him, that is of course except for Kirk who had managed to get Spock to open up to him a little. Scotty had felt terrible about letting her get away but Nyota told him that she would have found a way and that she didn't want any of us to get hurt. Nyota had told Scotty of how terrified she was for her friend and how she was going to throttle her when she got back. The two had found a bit of comfort in one another when they talked the other day. McCoy was grouchier than ever and snapped at everyone who entered the Sick Bay. Nurse Chapel was handling him well though, knowing that he was just covering up for a broken heart. He drank a whole bottle of whiskey the day she disappeared. He hadn't slept well either. Chekov was quieter and Sulu wasn't as upbeat as he usually was. Kirk was trying so hard to get her back. He didn't like seeing his first officer hurt so much. He didn't like seeing his chief medical officer and chief engineer hurt either. And he didn't like the pain he felt at the loss of his friend. He had grown to really like Amaya over the time that she had been on the Enterprise. He found that he was able to laugh and joke around with her and that she could make jokes with him. He sighed, the table was too quiet, too sad. Jim's communicator went off and he answered it,

"Kirk here."

"Captain, this is Jones. The tracker's stopped and we have a location." Everyone's head shot to Jim,

"Where?"

"A small planet near the edge of the galaxy. It's on the outer rim of the Klingon Empire. We're making our way there now sir."

"Good. What kind of planet is it?"

"It's like a prison planet sir. It's pretty barren but there's a large amount of activity on the one side of the planet. There's a multitude of species on the planets surface Captain."

"Explain."

"Alien, humanoid, human. They all vary sir." Spock tensed,

"Captain, the Klingon's are known for being brutal and thrive on honor and battle. It has been said that there are planets in their empire that they use to showcase executions. And also fights between prisoners. Fights that do not end until one person is left alive." Jim's face hardened,

"Arenas. Jones, take us into warp eight."

"Captain, warp eight-"

"Is pushing it I know but we're talking about life and death here."

"Yes Captain."

"Kirk out." No one said anything, Kirk stared at each member at the table, "When we get there, I'm going to need a landing party. This is a dangerous planet and I'm only asking for volunteers because strictly speaking what we're doing is against Federation law. And I'm asking you guys because, well, we're her friends. I'll be going down and I know Spock will as well so I leave the choice up to the rest of you if you wish to go or not." McCoy didn't hesitate,

"I'm going. You'll need a doctor and I want my sister back." Kirk nodded. Scotty cleared his throat,

"Captain, she's my assistant and there's no way you're leavin' this ship without me." Kirk chuckled but nodded all the same,

"Nyota, Chekov, and Sulu I want you three to remain on the bridge and also be a back up party should we fail." The three nodded and then they dispersed. Kirk stopped McCoy just outside of the mess hall, "Bones, I hate to ask you this but… I need you to be prepared for anything. This is an arena planet and its sole purpose is to pit people against each other in a blood bath. I guess what I'm saying is be prepared for the worst." McCoy had a hard look on his face but nodded,

"I understand Jim. But you have a bigger problem to worry about." Kirk gave him a confused look and McCoy shook his head, "If anything's happened to her. Anything at all. Spock will go mental. If he sees her down in the arena I can tell you that nothing will stop him from jumping in there. You'll have to hold him back if possible. We can't blow out cover." Kirk sighed,

"You're right. I hadn't thought about that. I'll talk to Spock. I'm sure with his bond with Amaya she could tell him how to maneuver us through the corridors. The tracker can only do so much." McCoy and Kirk parted ways, each preparing for what was about to happen.

Scotty had talked to Keenser and told him about what they were going to do and Keenser had made him promise to bring her back. Scotty had been filled in as to what had happened and he was going to make sure that the people responsible for taking her were going to get it.

"Attention this is your Captain speaking. We're entering into hostile territory and we're going to attempt a rescue mission of Lieutenant O'Callaghan. Landing party report to the transporter room. All station's go to red alert. Be prepared for anything. Kirk out." Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty all arrived at the Transporter room where they were each handed a phaser and McCoy was handed a tricorder and a portable med kit. They all took their places on the pad,

"Beam us down Ensign." They dematerialized from the starship onto the planets surface. They were just outside of a large structure which looked like a prison, "Okay, stealth is the key at the moment. As long as they don't know we're here we have the upper hand. Spock, can you talk to her?" Spock closed his eyes and focused,

"I cannot speak with her but I can sense her presence. I believe she is unconsciousness." Kirk nodded.

"Alright, let's find a way inside and then we'll go from there." They crept around the side of the complex until they heard voices. "Shhh." Kirk held his hand up and the group came to a halt. They all waited with baited breath as they heard the voices conversation,

"I heard we got a shipment of fresh fighters."

"Yeah, some scum from the outer rim of Delta Vega, a few Romulans, five human mercenaries, and two half breeds."

"The humans will be the first to die. What kind of half breeds?"

"A half human half Orion male. And then a half human have Betazoid female." The other voice scoffed,

"They'll die right after the humans."

"The woman who loaned them said that they were fighters. Part of some alien gang. She said the male would put on a good show but that the woman would be the main attraction. She said she'd be worth it. I heard she has that tattoo that Betazoid female's get when they become warriors." The voice laughed,

"Then I hope to see the fight." Kirk peered around the corner just a little to see two Klingon guards standing outside a gate. He pulled back and looked at the others. He held up two fingers and nodded toward Spock. Spock handed his phaser to Scotty before pulling his blue Star Fleet uniform shirt off and handed it to him as well leaving him in the black long sleeved undershirt. Kirtk pulled his phaser out before taking hold of Spock's arm and showing him around the corner,

"Keep moving dog!" He shoved Spock forward who grasped both of his arms behind his back to appear as though he were bound. When they got closer the Klingon guards pointed their weapons at them,

"Halt!"

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Kirk eyed them for a moment,

"I'm here to sell this Vulcan to fight in the arena." One of the guards eyed him,

"You wear a Starfleet uniform." Kirk gave them a smug smile,

"I can't have a few indulgences? I've heard that the money you can make here betting on fights is quite extraordinary. And as it just so happens, I have a competitor here." The guards lowered their weapons just a bit as the moved toward them. When they were close enough Spock pulled his arms from behind his back and grabbed one of the guards using the Vulcan nerve pinch to disable him. Kirk punched the other guard before taking him and slamming him against the wall face first. "How do I get in?"

"I will tell you nothing!" He slammed his had against the wall,

"Tell me!"

"Die pig!" He slammed him against the wall again,

"Tell me or I'll have my Vulcan friend here melt your brain." The Klingon growled,

"I will die with honor!"

"You won't die, you'll just be a vegetable. Now tell me how do I get in!" Kirk slammed him into the wall again before the Klingone grumbled,

"There's a key."

"Where?"

"In Ro'tog's pocket." Kirk looked to Spock,

"Check it out." Spock dug around in his pockets until he found the key card,

"Affirmative Captain."

"Spock, if you would be so kind." He nodded toward the Klingon who he had pinned to the wall. Spock came over and used the nerve pinch to render him unconscious. Kirk wiped his hands as the others came around the corner. Scotty handed Spock his shirt and phaser,

"Interestin' that was. Can you really melt someone's brain?" Spock shook his head,

"No, it is impossible for Vulcans to 'melt' another persons brain." Kirk chuckled,

"I improvised." McCoy scoffed,

"You do that a lot."

"It worked didn't it. Now lets go." Spock opened the gate and they were in. Now to find Amaya, before they were found or worse. Before she had to fight.


	15. Let's go another round

I cringed when the medics threw me back into my cage. They did surgery like it was the dark days. They had old tools and didn't use any form of anesthetic. However crude their methods may have been they were effective. They had even managed to repair my vocal chords a bit more. Triskro looked better that was for sure. He was standing and looked a bit healthier. He still looked thin but I could see that he wasn't weak.

"I heard one of the guards say that we were going to be going on in an ten minutes."

"Do you know who we're going… to be fighting?" He shook his head,

"No, all I know is that we'll be going in with some humanoids from Delta Vega's outer rim." I nodded,

"You and me against the world." He nodded and held his hand out. I took it and he pulled me into a hug,

"You and me." When the guards escorted us out of the cell and toward the arena I felt a twinge in the back of my brain. Spock. It had to be. He must be on the planet. Hope filled me and yet so did fear. If Leon or Kathliana found him and the others they'd kill them. And then there were the Klingon's they wouldn't want to lose any fighters. I shook my head. They'd find a way. They always did. For now I needed to focus on the fight. It was a big arena and on the other side the humanoids from Delta Vega entered the arena. There were seven of them. Triskro whispered,

"We can take them. They'll be no problem at all."

"But can we handle those?" I nodded toward the front of the ring where two Klingon's held onto three Targ's and two Sehlat's.

"Targ's are native to Klingon but I don't know what the other things are."

"Sehlat's. They're native to Vulcan… they're carnivores with six inch fangs." Triskro grimaced a bit,

"That's one heck of a bite." I smirked at the poor attempt of a joke. The Targ's looked like earth's boar with sharp tusks and a more alien look to them. Either way both creatures were viscous.

"Let the humanoids fight with the creatures… hang in the back."

"Fight whatever's left." I nodded. A Klingon came over with a selection of weapons. There was an ax, a pair of sai, a sword, a set of knives, and a pair of long daggers. Triskro and I shared a look before grabbing the sai and daggers. We each took a sai and a dagger. We used to have these weapons back in Ireland. We took whatever weapons we could find, new or old, and these were our personal favorites. When the gong sounded the Klingon's let go of the creatures and they charged both parties. Two Targ's came snarling our way. We let them come to us and then each took one. I used the dagger to defend myself from one of its tusks before using the sai to gouge out its eye. It shrieked and backed away before letting out an enraged squeal and charging me again. I barely dogged it before it turned on me again and rammed into my back, sending me sprawling to the ground losing hold of my sai. I didn't have time to reach for it as it charged at me again. I held my dagger tightly and when it made impact with me I drove it into the soft spot under its jaw. I cringed as I pulled back from it. One of its tusks had ripped my forearm open. I grabbed my sai before running to Triskro who was pinned under the animal. Its hide and skull would be too tough to hack through so I dropped my weapons and took its head in both hands and quickly snapped its neck. The crowd roared and I helped Triskro up,

"Thanks."

"No problem." I surveyed the damage. All three Targ's were dead and so was one of the Sehlat's. Five of the seven humanoids were dead as well.

"Humanoids or Sehlat?"

"Humanoids, we know the Sehlat is trying to kill us… We can't trust the humanoids not to turn on us." I hated saying it but it was the truth. We charged them and killed them with little resistance. Triskro and I circled the Sehlat. It charged at me and I swung my dagger at it cutting it down the left half of its face. Triskro threw his sai at it and hit it right in its side. It charged at him and I took that moment to charge after it and embed my dagger in its thigh. It screamed before turning on me and biting my leg. I cringed, refusing to scream and add to the crowd's pleasure. Triskro acted quickly and took his dagger and launched it into its neck. It hollered again and released me before I took my sai and jammed it in its jugular. It floundered around a bit before it died. The crowd cheered as Triskro helped me stand. His arms were torn apart from the Targ and a split lip but otherwise looked fine. We stood there as the crowd cheered and the guards took us away. We were first escorted to the medics who patched us up quickly before we were thrown back into our cell. "How long do you think it'll be… before we fight again?"

"Probably an hour or so. I heard that the Romulans and the human mercenaries fight next."

"The humans won't survive." He nodded,

"And we'll probably have to fight the Romulans."

"Joy." After about a half an hour of waiting I felt something at the back of mind again. It was stronger this time. I sat up straight,

'_Spock?'_

'_Amaya…' _It was faint but I had heard it none the less,

'_Spock!' _There was nothing. I cursed and Triskro gave me a curious look, "Spock's here."

"Is he close?" I shook my head,

"No, close enough that we were able to communicate a bit… but not much." He nodded,

"Let's hope he gets us out of here before we fight again." I nodded and for the next twenty minutes I kept trying to reach out to Spock but got nothing. The outer gate opened and four Klingon guards entered and made their way toward our cage. Triskro sighed, "Time to fight." We stood and when the door opened we followed the guards out and back into the arena. The crowd roared as we entered. I scanned the crowd for any sign of Spock. Triskro nudged me and nodded toward the left, "Right by the edge of the cage. Our loving family." I narrowed my eyes as Kathliana grinned and waved as she leaned casually against the railing.

"When we get out of here she's the first one I'm going after."

"Can I have Leon?" I laughed as he threw his arm around my shoulder. We had been right about the Romulans winning. They were currently staring at us like we were a meal.

"We might have to choose different weapons." The Romulans had chosen long swords, battle axes, and clubs.

"Agreed." When it came time for us to choose our weapons I went for a long double bladed sword. It was like a staff with a sword on each end. Triskro had chosen to go for a long curved sword. "There aren't any creatures."

"Which means it's just us and the Romulans… and we're outnumbered eight to two."

"Well, we'll just have to try harder won't we? Because you've got to get married."

"Triskro-"

"Come on, if one of us makes it out of here it has to be you. It should be you. You've got a good life, a real family to love you, and a great guy. I've got nothing to go back to." I looked at Triskro and hugged him,

"You have me. You can come back with me."

"Amaya-"

"No, you and me remember? Starfleet would love to have you... They could use you. Please… for me." He sighed before pulling back,

"Come on, let's just try to stay alive."

"Both of us." We walked out to the center to meet the Romulans,

"Prepare to die half breeds." Triskro chuckled,

"You first." The leader of the group let out a battle cry before he swung at us. I easily blocked him while the others went for Triskro. I pulled back and ducked as he swung again. I kicked his feet out from under him before bringing my blade down on him. He managed to block it and I pressed harder. It inched closer and closer to his neck yet he pushed back and in the end he pushed me off completely. I noticed one had its back to me and was facing Triskro so I stepped back and plunged the end half of my blade into him. He screamed before I pulled it out and he fell limp. Triskro had felled two more making it five to two. Triskro and I went back to back as the five of them circled around us. Two lunged at me while the other three went for Triskro. I blocked one and had a split second to block another. I felt something in the back of my mind and it was growing stronger fast,

'_Amaya!'_

'_Spock!' _My momentary distraction allowed for one of the Romulans to stab me in the side. I felt a sharp pain in my side and hissed. I heard laughter as the one pulled his blade out of my side. I kicked the one I was blocking and quickly stabbed him in the neck before turning on the other just in time to block his attack. I cringed as he pressed harder making me slide back, _'Please hurry Spock. We need your help.'_

'_We are on route to your location. Hold one.'_

I pushed back with what little force I had left and pushed him off. It was becoming hard to breathe and I when I pressed my hand to my side I saw that I was bleeding badly,

"How bad is it?"

"Bad, what about you?" I could easily see the blood seeping through his pant leg and saw his limp.

"I'm alright."

"They're almost here."

"Can you hang on that long?" I cringed as a wave of pain his me,

"I'm not sure."

"Right then. New approach." Triskro growled as he lunged at one of the Romulans and swung at their legs. The Romulan cried out in pain and dropped his weapon. Triskro quickly raised his blade and decapitated him. He then limped as fast as he could to the next one. The leader came at me again and we were back to swinging and blocking. He took a cheap shot though kicked me in the side, right where my wound was. I doubled over in pain but quickly rolled out of the way before he brought his sword down. I was splayed across the ground now clutching my stomach with one hand and my sword with the other. Triskro had finished off another and was fighting the last two. My head was pounding and I was beginning to feel dizzy. The leader laughed, seeing my distress,

"Are you prepared to die half breed?" I shook my head, but when he raised his sword to cut me down there was a loud boom at the other end of the arena and four people in black shirts and pants came charging in blasting Klingons and Romulans that got in their way. While the Romulan leader was distracted I kicked his feet out from under him. I raised my sword with what strength I had and let out a pain filled scream as I brought it down and impaled him. I felt my body grow tired as all of my energy began to leave me. I felt someone pull me up and looked up to see Triskro,

"It's time to go!" He put my arm around his neck and we stumbled our way towards four Starfleet officers who were currently keeping a hoard of Klingon's and other creatures back, "We're almost there."

"Die half breeds!" A heavy force knocked us both to the ground and I turned around just in time to see who it was that had knocked us over. There stood a seething Kathliana with a blood lust in her eyes. She charged at me and I barely managed to roll out of the way in time. I stumbled to my feet and tried to defend myself but I was too weak. Her attacks came fast and hard and I was taking a beating. She picked up one of the swords and hissed at me, "I will **finally **kill you." Hate and anger radiated off of her. She really wanted me dead. She charged at me again, and this time I knew that I couldn't stop her. I braced myself for the impact but was shoved roughly to the side and when I saw who shoved me I cried out,

"Triskro!" He was standing there with her sword stuck in him all the way up to the hilt. But he too had a knife buried in her as well. He had stabbed her in the neck with one of the knives that the guards carried. She coughed and spluttered and blood flowed from her mouth. A moment later her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell backwards. Triskro stood there for a moment before he pulled the sword out and fell to his knees. I crawled over to him just as he fell back onto his back. He started coughing and I knew it wasn't long. Tears spilled down my cheeks. The wound was massive and no amount of medicine or skilled surgeon could save him, "Why?" His face was a very pale green,

"You… had to… get married." I choked on a sob,

"Triskro, I'm so sorry. This is all because of me-"

"No… no, you… you did good… it's okay… I've been… waiting for death… to catch up to me… Starfleet… never really would've… worked out for me." He took in a sharp breath and exhaled,

"I-I love you Triskro. You w-were always like my brother." He smiled a little but then cringed,

"Chin up… my dear." He took in another deep breath before his face softened and his slid shut and the breath left him. I felt his presence leave and that once warm and loving feeling that **was **Triskro was gone, and there was only a cold and empty shell left. Sobs racked my body as I held him to me and rocked back and forth. Someone started shouting my hand but I couldn't hear them. I couldn't comprehend what they were saying. My heart was filled with pain. I felt someone pull on my arm but I shook them off,

"Amaya, we must go." I looked up at Spock through my tears and went to tell him that I couldn't leave him here when something caught my eye,

"Look out!" Spock whipped around just in time to block an attack from Leon. Leon had this wild and crazed look in his eyes. Rage was the only thing I felt from him and it came off of him in waves. He swung at Spock again who deflected it with ease. The two tussled for a bit before Spock threw him against a wall. Leon fell to the ground but didn't stay down. He picked up one of the spears on the ground and gripped it tightly. He was breathing hard and had blood running from his mouth. He looked like he was out of his mind where as Spock was calm and cool as ever. On the outside at least. I could feel the anger that burned in him and a deep desire to protect. He swung at Spock who barely ducked in time to keep from getting his head cut off. Leon went at him again and managed to cut his shoulder. Spock winced but that was it. This only enraged Leon further,

"Why! What is it about you, huh? Why you instead of me?" He whipped the spear around trying to impale Spock who easily dodged him. "What do you have that I don't?!" He growled as he kept trying to get Spock with the spear. I grabbed the knife off the ground and stumbled to my feet,

'_Spock!' _He looked at me and I tossed him the knife. He caught if before lunging at Leon. It all happened so fast. Spock had the knife embedded in Leon's chest who was shocked. He dropped the spear and gripped Spock's elbows. Blood trickled from his mouth. Spock's eyes were hard as he looked him,

"Perhaps it is because I did not push her away like you did, and I am capable of accepting our differences." I was standing just a few feet away now and when Spock pulled the knife out Leon stumble forward. Spock moved toward my side and Leon looked at us both,

"What does he have… that I don't?" I shook my head a bit before taking hold of Spock's hand,

"Me. He has me. He understands me and that… is something you never could do." Leon's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground. He didn't die dramatically nor did he go out with a bang. He died the way he should have. Like a dog. There was another loud boom and then Jim's voice rang out loud and clear,

"Sulu! Get us out of here!" Spock grasped my hand tightly and we sprinted for the others. Scotty, Leo, and Jim were standing in a semi circle with phasers drawn. Spock and I stood in the center, "Now Sulu!" I shut my eyes and leaned heavily against Spock. When I opened my eyes again I found that we were back on the ship. Cheers were heard and I couldn't help the small smile that crossed my lips. Spock wrapped his arm around my waist, propping me up,

"Doctor, I believe your assistance is required." Leo turned around and his eyes widened a little. He called Sick Bay and told them to get ready for surgery. Spock lifted me into his arms and followed him to Sick Bay. I sighed and buried my face in his neck. Things had gone so wrong. So terribly wrong.

When we got to Sick Bay Leo took me from Spock and put me on a table. I felt him stick a hypo in my neck and soon enough I felt my head grow fuzzy and a warm feeling spread through me. I felt a warm hand take hold of mine and knew exactly who it was,

'_Sleep Amaya and I shall be here when you wake.' _I took a deep breath and let the warmth consume me and fell fast asleep.


End file.
